A New Power Unleashed
by Butterflygirl1234
Summary: What if Holly was able to contain another power other than using the magic stone? How would this affect the adventures our heros face? Would she be able to defeat the evil forces? Would is also aid with revealing secrets? A must for Holly fans
1. The Final Dream

**Note: In my story Genki is 18 and Holly is 19.**

**Also I spelled Moo the japanese version of "Mu" just because I like that way better LOL!**

A New Power Unleashed

"So which way does the magic stone point to Holly?" Genki asked.

The beautiful bright yellow and orange colored sun had come up in the morning sky banishing the white clouds, the searchers has just finished eating breakfast and were getting ready to continue their journey with thier hopes of locating the phoenix.

"It points north" Holly said as the green pendant she always wore around her neck rose up revealing a yellow shadow of a bird.

"We go north chi!" Moochi exclaimed pointing his chubby hand in the direction.

Hare pulled out the map and began scanning the crinkled paper "there should be a town near by'' he told his friends "we should stop there and get supplies".

As they began walking towards the path, to the right; mysterious blue figures hid by the trees not taking their eyes of the courageous seven.

"Are those the famous rebals Captain?" one voice asked.

"Yes" he replied "when the time is right, we will attack and finish them once and for all".

As Genki started walking beside his friends he noticed Holly was a few meters behind the group. Curiously, he stopped heading for her while everyone else continued moving.

"Is something wrong?" he asked reaching her.

Holly paused for a while then gave him a small smile "no I'm fine, just been have having these weird dreams lately".

"What kind of dreams?''

"It's nothing really'' Holly said not wanting to make a big deal out of it. She started walking ahead but Genki grabbed her arm gently pulling her back towards him.

"C'mon" he urged "you can tell me anything, we're friends remember?''

At that statement Holly decided to give in, if she thought these dreams meant something and they were bothering her that much then it would be a good idea to share them with one of her friends, maybe he had an idea of why they were appearing to her only.

"Well," she started to explain explain "I'm standing in an unfamilar village that I've never been to, nor do I recognise, all of a sudden this red aura forms around me causing me to change into something but I don't know what".

''Could it be nightmares from what happend to your village?" Genki said.

''I don't think so" Holly told him "Suezo and I stopped having those months ago, usually if they did reappear we'd have them on the same night".

She froze, the worst considering in her mind, "do you think it could have something to do with the evil forces? Or even...Mu?"

Genki dropped on her idea like a pale of iced water ''no Holly don't ever think that".

"Why shouldn't I?" she said facing him with a very concerned look, her voice barely audibly so the others would not hear "ever since that day my village was taken away from me, nightmares of him did not leave me for so long either. What if this is a sigh? What if he's finds the phoenix before we do and corrupts our world? What if...''

"Don't lose hope Holly" he reminded her ''we've already got Pixie on our side, she was one of the Big Bad Four for crying out loud".

''She's different''.

"How?"

"Guys aren't you coming?!" Tiger shouted realising his companions were far behind the group.

"We can talk about this later" Holly said facing Genki again "maybe I'm overeacting, maybe the dreams don't have anything to do with baddies, their just there because they're there".

''Yeah maybe" Genki said then lowered his voice, speaking to her with a serious tone "but don't think about Mu or any of this allies, I would never let him come anywhere near you...I promise".

Holly looked at him, a little surprised at his words but instantly felt relieved nodding her head.

When the talk was over they both ran ahead to catch up with the others.

After four hours of walking non-stop the group decided to take a break resting under a large oak tree.

As everybody shifted their positons in order to get more comfortable, Holly immediately felt her eyes drop and drifted to sleep.

This time she was not standing in the unfamilair village like she had been before but instead the same spot where her and her friends were relaxing only no one was present but her.

"Uh... guys?!'' she called; unsure if she was really asleep or not ''guys where are you?''

''They're not here Holly" a smooth feminine voice came from behind her.

Holly turned around, a woman who looked twenty-one was standing right behind her on a white stone bench. She had dark brown eyes with long black hair cascading down her back and wore a long strapless red dress.

Holly took a few steps back startled by her pressence.

"W-w-ho are you?" she asked before gathering up the courage to say "how do you know my name?"

The woman smiled "a friend, my name is Vanessa, and I know your name because I have been the one sending you those dreams you've been having for the past couple of weeks".

"Why?"

Vanessa sighed "this might take a lot of explaining Holly, please sit down". She patted the section of the bench beside her.

Holly did not move uncertain if this girl was trying to deceive her or not. She could have fallen asleep and Vanessa, or so she called herself, could have captured her friends and now trying to capture her but something clicked. She wore no baddies crest, her voice sounded truthful, and she ressembled someone who looked like they'd been through much pain in their life as well.

Slowly, Holly approached the bench and took a seat beside Vanessa.

Little did she know that after this moment, her life would never be the same again.


	2. The Power of Red Lady

**New Power Unleashed**

Holly listened with great interest as Vanessa began telling her, her life story.

"You see we are not so different" Vanessa said "I grew up in a warm and loving village much like your own, that was the time when monsters and humans were at peace with each other" she paused adding a sorrowful tone to her voice as she spoke the words "that is until, the dark times when Mu emerged. But a year before that time came, there was a legend in our village our leader always told us about, he claimed there was a power so powerful and severe, that when the time was right, a particular person would be chosen to be given that power and help conquer all the forces that threatened our world".

Now floods of questions erupted Holly's mind as her curiosity began to increase. She had forgotten all about accusing Vanessa of being a baddie and managed to ask "What kind of power?"

Vanessa drew her gaze away from Holly for one moment, keeping her focus at the sky as as she continued "it was the night of my eighteenth birthday, my parents told me they had something very special to give me so I waited while they left me in the cabin for an hour. They came back with our village leader Dominic, he was an old looking fellow with a long gray hair and beard but had a heart of gold. We all took a seat at the table enjoying the warm, rich tea my mother had made on that very perfect chilly night. I did not know why Dominic was present in our home, the simple explanation that had come to me was that every birthday should not be celebrated without our leader but I was thinking otherwise. As Dominic drank his last sips of tea, my mother cleaned up the table, and suggested we should all sit near the fireplace. It was this moment when I had finally gotten the chance to ask the kind old man why he had decided to come and visit us at this hour of the day.

"Dear child" he told me "you have not realized it yet?"

I shook my head.

"I have chosen you Vanessa to be given the power our true village holds" he said with a pretty little dimple showing on his lip, "you have been chosen by me, your mother and father and all the rest of the villagers to become Red Lady".

"Red Lady?" Holly suddenly blurted out as those last two words brought her back to reality "what exactly is that?"

Vanessa turned away from the sky and back to her with a smile "Red Lady is a very powerful warrior in my village, her power would be given to someone who was good enough, she could transform and do amazing tactics with her powers but only had one major goal- to stop this world from all destruction any villain might want to cause and give a reason why monster and humans can all live happily in peace together. I asked Dominic why he and the others had given this power to be of all the people in a village and he simple replied "when one sees a good heart in its site, that is where the true power lies".

"And did you do it?"

Vanessa nodded "even though I was quite young at the time I knew I was given a precious gift and could not take advantage of it. For three years I transformed into Red Lady protecting our village when the dangers came and honoring it with every moment. But one particular day, something went horribly wrong. I had not been feeling well for the past six weeks, my parents summoned a doctor right away to see what was the problem, it was that day I discovered I had a very sick illness, the doctor, as well as the rest of my family recommended I stay in bed and take it easy for a while. The next night however Mu's forces decided to attack our village, killing innocent people and taking the mystery disks we had saved to become young warriors to train them to their evil ways. That day as I heard terrible screams coming from outside our village I could not just stay hidden in the room my mother kept me in order to keep me safe. I knew I had to do something, I was Red Lady, I would not break my promise to any of the people who trusted me with their lives. With my last remaining strength, I transformed one last time and while the war was still going I asked all the humans, even the monsters to lend me their energy. When they all did, my power grew and I managed to wipe up the army causing all the violence to stop. Unfortunately, my sacrifice would cost me my last day alive on earth".

A moment of dead silence occurred before Holly decided to speak up again.

"I'm... sorry" was all she could say as she was still unsure how to respond to this woman's story.

Vanessa hung her head "you have nothing to be sorry for" she whispered "all you simple had to do was listen".

"But I don't understand" Holly said now desperate for more answers "why are you telling me all this? What does this have to do with all those dreams I've been having? Are you trying to tell me that Mu's forces will soon come attack me and my friends".

Vanessa looked up "there will be a time in our lives where we must all face our fears Holly".

She turned away understanding the words but still remained confused about one thing so she decided to give in and spill it out "but what does this have to do with Red Lady?"

It was that point where a real grin spread across Vanessa's face, she gently reached out and took Holly's hands in hers " the day I died I thought Red Lady was lost forever but I found out otherwise. That is why I sent you those dreams, it was a sign Holly".

"What do you mean?" Holly asked now growing extremely tired of not understanding the concepts.

"I have chosen you to become Red Lady".

"Me?" Holly managed to say through shock "but...why?"

Vanessa smiled "you have a good heart Holly, probably one of the best ones I've ever seen in my life, you're brave, clever, and you never give up. I've seen the way you fight together with your friends during the certain battles you face, even though you only have been able to use that magic stone".

Holly slowly brought her hand up to the necklace and began to rub the curvy rough stone that still hung around her neck. She was surprised that she had forgotten about it when Vanessa began talking to her. Now with her final questions answered, she needed to make a choice. Would she go along and keep this power or would it be too much for her to contain? True, she did not have many fighting skills unlike her friends but they could teach her. She did not mind if they did all the fighting in the battles but they could not always be there to protect her, she had to find a way to protect herself.

"Okay" she said rising up from the bench "I will become Red Lady".

Vanessa rose as well "are you sure this is what you want Holly? I am not forcing you to make any decisions right away".

"I know" Holly told her "but I want this power, the dark forces have gone too far with their path of destruction. We both know what it's like to lose our homes and I don't think I can bear to see anyone else suffer".

Vanessa smiled "thank-you, I knew I made the right choice".

She wrapped her arms around her in an embrace "this might sting a little".

Red beams of light soon began emerging from Vanessa's body.

Holly winced as the beams made their way inside her own body and could feel the pain twitching inside of her making her feel very numb. The light was so bright that she had to close her eyes, but the twitching continued.

"Almost done" Vanessa said holding onto her tighter.

When the beams stopped, she finally let go.

Holly could feel all her energy drained from her body. She tried standing up on her legs but the power had too much effect causing her to faint.

"Mmm where am I?" she said as she opened her eyes. This time, she was back in her regular spot and all her friends were seen under the large oak tree as they laid sleeping in the grass.

"Did it work?" Holly wondered looking at her hands "I don't feel any different?"

_Snap!_

Suddenly a blue energy ball hit the top of the tree causing everyone to wake up because of the sound.

Holly's eyes widened as the trunk came falling down towards the group "GUYS LOOK OUT!"

*********

**So mostly this chapter was about Vanessa but now that Holly has the power the story will focus mainly on her from now on.**

**Please tell me what you guys think and review this story if you want me to continue.**


	3. Jell Wipeout

**Note: Aww, thank-you so much to archsage328 and ripitupgenki**** for reviewing the last chapter and anyone else who has added this story to their favourites list. I apoligise for the late update, my computer screwed up and I had to get it fixed. Now let's continue shall we?**

**A New Power Unleashed**

"GUYS LOOK OUT!" Holly screamed so loudly she thought her lungs might burst.

Luckily her cries were heard, everyone jolted awake at the sound and gasped seeing the falling tree coming towards them.

"HOLY SMOKES!" Suezo yelled "GOLEM!"

The giant rock-like monster reached out and grabbed the tree with his massive hands before it could cause harm to anyone.

"That was close" Suezo said wiping the sweat from his forehead with his tail "it's a good thing he only lets me fall to the ground".

"But how did the tree fall?" Genki wondered as Golem placed it gently on the ground.

"It couldn't have fallen by itself" Hare said as he made his way towards the heartwood of the tree and began observing the rings clearly printed on the wood "it doesn't seem to have reached its age limit".

"No but look" Holly said as she glanced over Hare's shoulder. A thick black circle was printed around the edges.

"Someone meant for this to happen".

"It was them" Tiger growled.

A herd of Blue Jells came out of the bushes they had hiden in to reveal themselves.

"Damn that trick didn't work" the Captain cursed under this breath with a scowl look on his face as he motioned towards his army "JELLS ATTACK!"

"Holly quick go hide!" Genki shouted "we'll deal with these guys!"

"Okay" she nodded running out of sight.

When she left Genki quickly slipped on his roller-blades "All right let's get em!"

"Chi" Moochi said as the battle begun.

Ten meters away Holly managed to find a suitable hiding place. She crouched down on her knees behind a large stone and watched her friends fight the baddies.

"TORNADO!"

"TORPEDO ATTACK!"

"TAIL WHIP!"

"CHERRY BLOSSOM BLIZZARD!"

"MACHINE GUN PUNCH!"

Genki punched several Jells square in the jaw ripping their faces off.

"Yeah!" He cheered when he saw that most of the army had become nothing more than a couple of blue puddles scattered in the field. His smile soon turned into a frown as the puddles grew back into bodies of Jells without a single scratch on any of them.

"Huh?" Genki said "but how?"

"You foolish mortal" Captain Jell sneered "it takes a major strong force to defeat our army and you obviously don't have it."

"That's never stopped us before!" Genki spat back "we've got a few tricks up our sleeves!"

As more battle cries were heard, Holly managed to peek from her hiding place but to her horror, most of her friends were being defeated.

"Ahhh!" Hare yelped as a Jell knocked him out.

"Oww!" Suezo cried, no longer able to defend himself.

Even Tiger and Golem were getting restless when ten Jells cornered them.

Genki looked over his shoulder seeing his friends trapped.

"All right Blue Dude!" he snapped pushing the back of his baseball cap to the back of his head and facing Captain Jell "we'll finish you! C'mon Moochi!''

He reached out and placed him on his back before skating towards the Jell.

"Rip it up!" he cried extending his leg out.

Unfortuantely, before he could deliver a killing blow, the Jell dodged his attack and ended up slapping the boy himself. Genki tumbled on his skates and fell to the ground causing Moochi to slip off his back and land a few meters in front of him. Genki brushed dirt off his face and sat up

"Moochi you oka...?"

Two blue hands grabbed him from the collar of his shirt.

"Let me go!" he shouted.

"Told you, you don't have what it takes!" Captain Jell said lifting the boy higher so he was eye to eye level with him "You will be the first to die!''

Genki tried moving his arms and legs but the pain from the blow had too much effect on him.

His friends tried to help but their injuries held them back.

"Genki no"Holly whisphered to herself as she peeked from her hiding place. Her eyes filled with horror watching the suffering of her friends.

"I wish I could do something but I can't. I have no power".

_Ahh but you do Holly _a familar feminine voice spoke inside her head _don't you remember what I told you?_

"Vanessa?" Holly said cocking her head to the side "is that you?".

She then drew her gaze back to the field and nodded "you're right Vanessa, I won't let them kill my friends".

She quickly stood up on her knees, a clear red aura froming around her.

*******

"Prepare to die boy!" Captain Jell snarled "this is what you get from trying to conquer the dark side!"

"Genki chi!" Moochi cried.

"No!" Golem exclaimed.

"Run kid!" Tiger suggested "get out of there!"

"So long!" Jell yelled making a fist "Jell attack!"

"GENKI!" All five monsters screamed in usion.

The aura grew darker as Holly said the words "RED LADY POWER MAKE-UP!"

A bright red orb surrounded the field. Everyone heard the commotion and stopped what they were doing, even the Jells.

Captain Jell threw Genki carelessly on the ground staring into the circle "hey what is...?"

His question was interuppted but two words "RUBY CHAIN!"

A straight line of red flames hit him in the stomach.

He screamed in pain, along with his army as the flame wrapped itself around them as well, causing the blue monsters to disintegrate.

When all of them vanished, the orb made a loud hissing sound that seemed so alarming, the searchers had to shield themselves.

Genki could hear the loud noise clearly above him. He half expected the orb to cause an explosion and blow everyone to pieces but instead it stopped.

He removed his hand away from his face but nearly jumped back seeing a person standing in front of him.

There stood a young woman, who looked slightly a bit older than himself. Her long black hair cascaded halfway down her back and short bangs covered her forehead not showing any skin. She wore a short bright red tank-top with long matching pants that contained two small cuts at the bottom of each leg. She also had plain red shoes with small laces on them. She also had long red fingerless gloves on each arm that reached up to her elbow. The magic stone was clearly seen still around her neck but Genki didn't seem to notice it at first. He took one look at her bare stomach then stared at her eyes, those eyes, those same hazel-colored eyes that he had been travelling with for the past three months. Those beautiful familar eyes!

"Holly?" Genki said finally recognising her.

She smiled at him then slowly shut her eyes and fell to the ground.

"No!" he cried rushing to her side. He pressed his ear on her chest trying to listen to her heart "Holly can you hear me?" he asked placing his hands on her cheeks. After receiving no response, he bent down again and breathed a sigh of relief hearing brief echoes.

"Genki what happened?" Tiger asked as he and the others rushed to where Genki was.

"Hey who's that?" Suezo asked then saw the magic stone, his eye grew wide "HOLLY?"

"Calm down Suezo" Genki said "I think I feel her heartbeat".

"Did she really wipe out that entire army?" Hare said.

Genki looked around the field, nothing remained but a whole group of lost disks.

"I don't know" he said "but that's not the problem, we need to get her to a hospital fast".

"Golem will carry Holly" Golem volunteered gently scooping up his friend, when he did this, Holly changed back into her regular form.

***********

The group found a small village not to far from where they were previously. They all sat in the waiting-room as the doctor took in and exaimed Holly. He came in a few minutes later to inform the group of the situation.

"Your friend suffered a concussion" he told them "something very hard must have knocked her out, but she should be recovering soon" He paused before adding "I'd like to keep her here for another hour but I see no reason not to allow her to leave after that".

"Can we see her?" Genki asked.

"Of course, follow me".

He let them to a small square shaped room containing several hospital beds with curtains between them.

Holly's pale body remained asleep in the first bed.

"I'll be back shortly" the doctor said then left the room.

"I wonder what happened back in the field" Genki wondered pulling up a chair to the side of the bed.

Hare scratched underneath his chin "according to my fair calculations and knowledge, I believe Holly was able to use a new power".

"But I never knew Holly had a power" Tiger said.

Suezo nodded "the only power I know Holly has is being able to use the magic stone".

"If only she were awake" Genki said "then she could explain to us". He reached out to gently touched her fingertips.

Holly moved her head to the side and slowly opened her eyes.

She smiled at Genki, the color returning to her face "your hands are cold".

He pulled back "sorry".

"Holly you're awake!" Suezo said pushing Genki out of the way "we were so worried! You could have died!"

"The doctor said she would be fine Suezo" Genki muttered as he got up "you don't have to overreact".

"How are you feeling?" Tiger asked.

"I feel fine" Holly replied sitting up in the bed, she looked at her surroundings "but why am I here?''

"Holly feel down chi" Moochi said.

"Yeah" Hare explained "after that whole Jell army was wiped out we found you unconscious but... you seemed to be a different person".

"What happened back there?" Genki said.

"Did Holly destroy all of Mu's baddies by herself" Golem said.

"I don't really know" Holly said trying to recover her memory "all I remember was watching you guys fight the Jells, I wanted to help but didn't think I could because I didn't know how to fight and then..." She stopped mid-sentence and held the magic stone in her palms "Vanessa?"

"Who?" Genki said.

Holly explained to her friends about the strange dreams she had been having and the one particular dream where the woman Vanessa approached her.

"So what you're saying is that she gave you her powers?" Genki said.

Holly nodded "according to her I am now known as Red Lady".

"But who exactly is Red Lady?" Hare wondered.

Tiger shook his head "I've never heard of her".

"Me neither" Suezo said.

"Chi".

"Golem has" Golem replied "he heard the legend of Red Lady long time ago, sworn to stop this world from all darkness and want humans and monsters to live peacefully together".

Holly nodded "that's what Vanessa told me".

"Well then this is good" Genki said "with Red Lady on our team, we'll be able to defeat Mu for sure".

"But Holly are you really able to accept this new power" Suezo asked "I mean you've only had the power to use the stone".

"I know" she answered "but Vanessa choose to give this power to me, that's why I can't let her down, I promise to her and to all of you that I will use this power and do my best to fight the dark forces".

"Well then I've only got one thing left to say" Tiger smirked "welcome to the team Red Lady".

****************

**Wow pretty long chapter.**

**I hope it pays off for the late update.**

**As always if you could leave a review or two, it would be much appreciated.**

**I live on reviews.**


	4. New Feelings?

**Note: I know Holly's power up phrase might seem familar to some of you (actually it's like Sailor Moon) but I love that phrase so much that I wanted to use it in MR. Thanks again for the kind reviews.**

As soon as the doctor was paid, the seven headed out of the hospital and stopped at the mid-square of the small town they were at.

Genki paused for a second "we might as well buy supplies here".

"I agree" Hare nodded "then we can head to the closet diner to get a bite to eat".

Everyone agreed as they quickly split up to get the things they needed. When the supplies were all gathered, the group came across a small restaurant. They all sat at one huge table with each person having a plate of chicken, salad, and potatoes (except for Golem who stuck to rocks).

"How are you feeling Holly?" Genki asked as he set down his knife.

" Okay I guess" she replied poking a piece of chicken with her fork "my apetite is back so that's always a good sign" she added before popping it in her mouth.

Genki gave her a small smile "I can't believe you have powers now".

"Is that a bad thing?"

"No" Genki quickly said hoping she would not take it the wrong way "I just can't believe Vanessa would give a power so special to someone like you".

Holly looked at him, her face both showing a confused and odd expression.

"Shoot!" he said as he turned away embarassed by the words he had spoken "that didn't come out right did it?"

"It's all right I understand" Holly smiled "in fact, I was very surprised as well when Vanessa told me she was giving me her powers but now that I think about it, it's a good thing she did it".

"What do you mean?" Genki asked then took a sip of his water.

Holly faced him again and kept her voice at a serious tone "Genki look at me, it's true I have the power to supress the magic stone but as far as fighting goes... I'm weak".

Genki instantly placed his glass back on the table "you're not weak" he insisted "you're just not a fighter".

"Exactly" she pointed out "you guys can't always be there to protect me; becoming Red Lady I can finally defend for myself".

"Holly, we'll always be there to protect you" he said and placed his hand on hers "especially me".

"What are you talking about?"

"Well" Genki said looking deep into her eyes "I...I..."

"Hare quit stealing food from my plate!" Tiger shoutes causing everyone to stop what they were doing and look in their direction.

"I'm not!" Hare yelled back at him "you're the one taking my meat!"

Genki sighed and slipped his hand away "can't you guys stop fighting for five minutes?"

As the monsters continued to brawl, Genki faced Holly again "we'd better finish quickly and get out of here before Tiger and Hare get us kicked out".

She agreed but could not help but wonder what it was he was going to tell her. Could it have been the same thing that she was thinking?

*****************

( A castle in the distant desert)

The loud rumble of the sand storm occured outside a dry palace. Gusts of wind blew little flakes of sand every second so roughly, the figure had to shield himself with one hand so it seemed like he was walking blindly. Luckily, he came towards the palace door and fled inside before anymore sand could swing at him. Minutes later, he was standing in a grand hallway face to face with a floating figure that looked very similar to a ghost in someone's point of view but wore a white cape with a golden sun shaped mask for a face.

"Master Gali" the Jell said greeting him with a bow.

Gali ignored this little hint of respect and asked "what news have you brought me? He then realized that the Jell was not the monster he expected to see "where is your leader?''

"I'm afraid he's gone master" the Jell told him with a disgusted face "those dispicable rebels destroyed him and our entire army, I was the only one that survived".

"What!" Gali exclaimed "but there was an entire army! Surely that could have destroyed only seven searchers!"

"We almost did" the Jell tried to explain "but the human girl who deafeated us was more powerful than we thought".

As he continued to bamble on, Gali sighed heavily not buying the lame Jell's excuse. He figured they were just a pathetic bunch and needed to summon someone more powerful.

"How dare they even think to challege Master Mu" Gali said when they Jell finally stopped talking, "I will finish them once and for all, Joker come forward".

In a cloud of black dust, a new grim- reaper like monster dressed in a black cloak and had an evil looking clown painted mask appeared. He also carried an over-sized scythe as a weapon.

"What are your orders Master Gali?"

Gali faced him "I want you to find those rebels and destroy them...starting with the human girl".

Joker bowed "as you wish".


	5. A Secret to be kept

**Note: Okay I'm back!!!**

**Yes, this story is still alive!!! I've just put writing aside for awhile and focused on other things. Then my computer crashed so I had to wait to get it fixed but yeah, I will try my best to update more frequently now since the summer is almost here. So last time we left off, Holly had just received her new powers and everything was alright until Gali of the big bad four summoned Joker to get rid of the group. Will he succeed?**

**A New Power Unleashed**

After the small incident the restaurant, the group left the town and walked for a mile until night finally came up. They decided to call it quits and set up camp. Everyone feel asleep around the warm fire except for Holly. She tossed and turned in her sleeping-bag hearing nothing but Suezo's loud snoring beside her until she finally had enough. She got up quickly and made her way pass the campsite quietly until she came to a small riverbank. Holly dipped her hands in the icy cold water and washed her hot sweaty face. She stood still for a moment admiring her reflection for awhile then sighed. Why couldn't she sleep? Suezo's snoring had never bothered her before but for some odd reason, tonight it did. Maybe it was the side effects of the Red Lady power or maybe she was just really anxious to find out what Genki was trying to tell her at the restaurant.

Holly continued to stare into a water when she noticed a familiar face behind her .

She turned around "Genki?"

"Hey" he said with a smile "Couldn't sleep?"

"Not really" she replied as he took a seat beside her "what are you doing here?"

He smirked "I think this is the first time I've noticed Suezo snores really loudly".

There was a moment of dead silence between the two as they continued to stare at the river.

Finally Genki spoke up, "Holly, look about that thing I was trying to tell you at the restaurant I..."

"Yes" she said patiently waiting for an answer.

"Well you see" Genki started to say then wiped his forehead.

It was that point Holly noticed that he had began to turn a little red and was starting to sweat.

"Genki?" she said "are you okay?"

"I'm fine" he assured her "I've just never been in a situation like this before, but I've never been in love so..."

"Wait!" Holly interrupted "you're in love with someone?"

"Very much" Genki stated "even though I've only known her for a couple of months there's no doubt in my mind".

"Do I know her?" Holly asked making sure she was thinking the same person.

"Oh yeah you know her" Genki said as he moved a little closer to her "I'm looking at her right now".

Holly felt relieved! she felt overjoyed! she felt like her whole world come down! It was also true for her as well, she had never felt like this before. Back when she was still living in her village several admirers had come to her grandfather to ask for her hand but he rejected them all because he knew that they did not care for her in any real loving matter. But she was sure if he were alive at that moment, they would have his blessing. Genki was a very smart and brave boy, sure he could be a little immature at times, but throughout the adventures he traveled with the group, he had showed nothing but kindness and love towards her.

Holly smiled at him "I feel the same way, of course I didn't think anyone could love me in return".

Genki gently took her face in his hands forcing her to met his gaze "Holly let me try one thing". He slowly moved his mouth towards her until their lips were locked in a passionate kiss. Holly closed her eyes as she touched his hands that were still on her face. When their lips finally broke apart, they both opened their eyes and smiled at each other. this time Holly led the kiss as she wrapped her arms around Genki's neck and let his hands wrap around her waist.

Little did they both know that far away into the bushes, Joker spotted them.

"Enjoy all your time now rebels" he sneered and looked at the sight with a hint of disgust on his face "because this will be your last".

Tiger was the first one to wake up when the bright sun shone in the morning sky. He yawned and stretched before noticing that two of his friends were gone.

"Holly? Genki?"

He sniffed the air, immediately got a scent, and headed down to the river. When he got to his location Tiger froze at the the sight he saw. Holly and Genki were fast asleep in each others' arms embracing each other...deeply.

"This is...strange" was all the blue monster could say then smiled to himself "I knew they were more than just friends". He turned around and headed back to the campsite.

Holly opened her eyes listening to the sound of Genki's rapid breathing as she buried her face in his chest. Suddenly, she realized it was morning and raised her head.

"It's morning already?" she said unable to believe it herself, she turned to Genki and gently shook him "Genki wake up".

He opened his eyes and raised his head "what's wrong?"

"It's morning" she told him "we must have fallen asleep".

Genki nodded then yawned "must have".

"C'mon" she urged taking his hand "we'd better head back before the others think we've gone missing".

For a moment Genki just dragged his feet but eventually got up and began walking.

"Do you think we should tell them?" Holly asked as they drew closer to the campsite.

"Let's keep it quiet for now" Genki suggested "I know they're our friends but don't you think this will be a big shock for them...especially Suezo".

Holly pictured the one-eyed monster's reaction and couldn't help but giggle "I think he'd have a hard time excepting it".

"Yeah" Genki said looking discomforted "he'd probably try to turn me into a lost disk" he stopped walking and faced her "so it will be our secret for now, deal?"

She kissed his cheek "deal".

The two continued their walk until their campsite came into view. Luckily no one was up yet (except for Tiger who pretended to be asleep).

Holly decided to get started on her usual morning routine and began cooking breakfast. As soon as the smell sizzled in the air, everyone opened their eyes and got up.

"Morning everyone" Hare said then noticed Genki.

"Huh? Genki why are you up so early?".

"Uh..." Genki stammered trying to look for an excuse .

"Usually you're the _last _one to get up" Suezo concluded.

"I couldn't sleep" Genki replied "I figured since I was awake I'd help Holly make breakfast".

"Oh, okay if you say so" Hare shrugged drawing his attention to the pot of bubbling hot soup that was brewing.

Genki breathed a light sense of relief and looked at Holly who looked relieved as well as she began to stir the stew.

Tiger tried to hide his smirk when they all sat in a circle and ate breakfast. He knew that this was a really important to them. Honestly, he always thought they had a strong connection that no one else could see. Holly was a very special girl who deserved the best and he knew Genki was the one for her. Genki had been a human that had come from another world trying to help them stop Mu. No wonder they fell for each other and decided to keep their relationship a secret. Since they were his friends, practically his family, Tiger decided to keep their secret and inform the others when the time was right.

When breakfast was done, the group gathered around as Holly concentrated with the magic stone.

"Magic stone" she whispered with her eyes closed "show me the way".

"What's the way Holly chi?" Moochi asked trying to get a glimpse of the image.

Holly opened her eyes and looked down "it points east".

While going the that direction, the group came across a black cave.

"Do you guys think we should check this out?" Genki said as everyone stopped "maybe there's a mystery disk in there".

"It could be dangerous" Tiger sniffed the air and growled.

"I'm sure it's nothing we can't handle" Genki placed Moochi on his back "C'mon Moochi".

"Genki wait!" Holly called out as they entered the cave. She shook her head but smiled "he never learns".

Hare sighed "we'd better make sure they don't collapse the cave".

"Wow this looks really deep" Genki observed the dark setting and noticed a series of black tunnels that seemed to led in different directions .

"Chi" Moochi agreed.

Genki cupped his hands over his mouth "HELLO!!!!" he shouted into the cave.

Several gray stones shook because of the loud rumble.

"Keep your voice down kid! Suezo snapped.

A wicked growl was heard form above.

Everyone turned to see Joker standing on one of the large stones. He leaped down and jumped down in front of them.

"It's one of Mu's baddies!" Genki said angrily noticing his crest.

"What do you want?!" Tiger spat.

"I have orders from Master Gali of the Big Bad Four to destroy you all!" Joker announced.

"You want to destroy us, bring it on!" Genki yelled "c'mon guys!"

**Yay!!! Holly and Genki are together and Tiger will keep their secret!!! I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter. And again, if you could leave a review or two, it would be much appreciated :)**


	6. Holly's first Battle

**Thank you so much again to all reviewers! **

**You're kind words always encourages me to keep going with this story. Now let's continue shall we?**

"You want to destroy us?" Genki beckoned to his group "c'mon guys!"

As everyone charged at him, preparing to strike, Joker disappeared into thin air.

"Huh?" Genki said.

"Where he'd go?" Hare wondered.

"He just vanished" Golem said "but...how?" Before anyone could answer his question. A dark grey fog flashed in his direction. Instead of the deep dark cave, Golem found himself in a large green meadow with beautiful flowers blossoming all around. Golem forgot all about his friends and the events that had just occurred as he was too dazed by the sight. It seemed to be like a dream come true to him as he had hoped to once be in a beautiful place again ever since he was saddened everyday when he was guardians of the disks.

He bent to pick up a flower "Golem like pretty flower" he smiled. Just as he was about to take a sniff of the lovely aroma, a huge blue wave swept by and flooded the garden. To Golem's horror, he found himself standing in the middle of the ocean. Water was his worst nightmare. He swung his arms and legs trying to save himself but continued to sink lower and lower.

What Golem and the others did not know was that this was just an hallucination caused by Joker's power.

"Uh Golem" Suezo asked confused by his actions "are you okay?"

"Golem what's wrong?" Genki asked.

The rock monster swung his arms faster "WATER! I'M DROWNING!"

"There's no water here" Holly said calmly trying to assure him.

But he did not seem to hear her.

Next, the light flashed in Tiger's direction bringing him in a very dark room all alone.

"Where am I?" he asked himself as he looked around "guys!"

Suddenly a familiar figure emerged from the shadows. A figure who Tiger loathed in the entire world, a figure he planned on getting revenge on ever since his brother was kidnapped.

"Mu!'' Tiger shouted as he began launching his torpedo attack.

Next, the fog came into Hare's direction. The bunny beamed at the site before him. Huge amounts of golden coins were lying at his feet.

"Yay I'm rich!" he yelled scoping up a handful of coins in his palms "I knew wishes could come true, all those years of waiting to get lucky finally paid off". Just then, an evil black hare appeared. Without saying a word, he smirked and pushed Hare down and ran with a big bag of money in this hands.

"No!" Hare shouted as he began running after him "come back with _my _money!"

Back in the real world, Genki shrugged when he saw Tiger attacking nothing and Hare beat up a rock.

This time the fog hit Moochi and Suezo. A long grey metal chain stretched out of the cave and headed straight for them. It wrapped tightly around the two monsters causing them to groan in pain.

"C-c-can't breath" Suezo gasped closing his eye.

"Moochi!" Moochi choked.

"Moochi what is it?" Genki asked.

"C-c-chain too tight c-chi!"

"What chain?"

He stopped tending to his friend when the fog interrupted his thoughts. Genki looked around his surroundings. He was standing in the middle of a black smoky background. The silence was cut by high pitched screams. Genki covered his ears and ran out of the fog trying to find out where it was coming from. When he finally got out, he was horrified at the sight before him. Small cabins and markets were being burned down by several monsters who wore baddie crests on their chests. Hundreds of people including women and children were fleeing around the buildings trying to get as far away as possible from the violence. Genki cringed as the baddies continued to burn the city and slaughter a couple of men who were either too weak or injured to fight back. Genki's blood began to boil, he pulled the front of his hat to the back of his head and skated down towards the scene. Just as he was about to throw a first punch at a baddie, a figure in the middle of the area caught his eye. A familair person dressed in red with black hair.

Genki stopped and gasped "Holly?"

She turned to face him and smiled but this was a nasty smile that made his stomach hurl. Holly raised her hand and shot her power at one house causing it to catch on fire.

"Holly don't!" Genki screamed hearing peoples' cries inside the building.

"You're too late foolish rebel!" Holly snarled as a baddie crest formed on her chest.

"HOLLY NO!"

"Genki where are you going? I'm right here" Holly said seeing him run in the opposite direction.

The wicked laugh was heard again. A shiver ran up Holly's spine, _what's happening?_

The fog hit her causing her to shield her eyes. When she opened them, she saw Genki standing right in front of here.

"Genki" she said stepping closer to him "what happened to you? Are you okay?"

His face remained motionless and he stood there still like a tree. Suddenly, he reached out and smacked Holly right in the face!

Holly tumbled to the ground clutching her throbbing cheek.

"Genki...." she said too shocked to mutter anything else.

"YOU STUPID FUCKING GIRL!" Genki growled grabbing her by the shoulders and pinning her to the wall "YOU CAN'T EVEN TRANSFORM TO FIGHT JOKER!"

"I'm...I'm sorry" Holly managed to say "but I he attacked before..."

"BE QUIET!" he yelled "I HATE YOU! YOU PATHETIC WEAKLING!"

Joker laughed to himself seeing the group let their hallucinations get the best of them.

"Master Gali will be very please to learn that these rebels are done for!"

"THAT'S WHAT YOU TRULY ARE!" Genki continued to spaze at Holly "I CAN'T BELIEVE I LOVED YOU FOR A SECOND!"

"Stop it!" Holly cried out as tears of frustration threatened to spill from her eyes "you're hurting me!"

"I TOLD YOU TO SHUT UP!" Genki yelled then raised his hand for another smack.

Holly opened her eyes and glared at him, she had no idea what was going on but one thing was for certain: this was _not_ her Genki. Her Genki would never act this way, her Genki would never say horrible things to upset her, her Genki would never lay a finger on her if it caused any pain. No she was right, this was not her Genki, this was someone else.

"AND I TOLD YOU TO STOP!" Holly yelled back. She got free of his grip and smacked him right across the face as he did to her.

Genki stumbled to his feet and backed away from her. He soon faded out as with the rest of the background bringing Holly right back into the cave.

"I knew it wasn't Genki" she said seeing him run in the same direction as he was before "but how did...?"

She looked around and spotted Joker. Soon she finally realized what was the reason for all this happening. _He's the one doing this to them _she thought and saw him disappear.

Holly nodded to herself and ran after him. "Well he won't get away with this" she raised her arm and shouted "RED LADY POWER MAKE-UP!"

"Now which one of the rebels shall I kill first!" Joker asked himself "the boy seems the most convenient....".

"Touch him and you'll regret it the rest of your life!" a voice shouted behind him.

Joker turned around and saw a woman standing proud wearing red clothes with jet black hair.

"I am Red Lady!" Holly proclaimed "born to protect the Earth from darkness, I will do everything in my power to stop Mu and his baddies including you!"

Joker smirked "so you're the one who destroyed the whole army of Jells. But how did you manage to escape my attack? Very well I'll destroy you myself, after all my master ordered me to kill you first" he raised his weapon and jumped in the air prepared to strike.

Just as his sword was about to hit her, Holly dodged the attack by doing a back-flip. Joker cursed himself and tried swiping again from behind. Holly ducked and kicked him in the stomach. The blow was so hard that Joker dropped his sword but still stood on the ground keeping a hand on his stomach.

Holly took this free opportunity and launched one of her attack "RUBY CHAIN!"

Joker jumped to the side before the attack could hit him.

A series of punches and kicks began in the battle until both of the opponents stood still on the ground breathing very hard.

"You're stronger than I thought" Joker said as he stopped panting. He made a small grey orb appeared in his hand "but not strong enough".

The grey fog flew out of his hand and headed straight for Holly.

Holly's eyes widened _NO! I CAN'T TAKE ANOTHER ONE OF THOSE TRICKS! I KNOW GENKI DOESN'T HATE ME! HE LOVES ME LIKE I LOVE HIM!_

A feeling of new energy came into her body and a red aura began to form around her.

She raised her head high and glared at the power "I know that trick isn't real! I won't let you win!"

Holly opened her mouth and screamed "HAHHHHHH!"

Giant yellow circles flew out of her mouth like a twister storm that blocked the fog and disinicrated it.

Joker paused "what? How did she...?"

Now that she had him distracted, Holly decided to give her power another try.

She spun into the air "RUBY CHAIN!" she cried drawing a circle with her hand and a line swiping in the middle.

"NO!" Joker cried as the power hit him. He remained in a black cloud for a few minutes when a lost mystery disk appeared on the ground.

Holly wiped the sweat from her forehead and sank to her knees exhausted, but very proud of her first victory.

"No wonder everyone fights over the soup I make" she said to herself.

Thanks to the defeat of Joker, the fog vanished and everyone's hallucinations had come to an end.

"What a dirty trick" Genki said realizing Joker's power "should have known he would have pulled a stunt like that". He turned to his friends "Is everybody alright? Moochi are you okay?"

"Chi!'' he cried happily and jumped onto Genki's back.

He smiled "well I'm glad to hear that".

Then a sound of light footsteps was heard.

Genki and the others turned around and saw Holly coming out of another direction in the cave.

"Man this wig gets itchy after a while" she said pushing her long bangs.

"Holly!" Genki called seeing the real her.

She looked at her friends and smiled.

"Hey guys!" she exclaimed running up to them.

"Why are you transformed?" Suezo asked "didn't Joker's power hit you as well?"

Holly explained to them how she managed to beat the power and transformed to defeat Joker. They were extremely shocked when she told them she had won the battle and then when she showed them the spot where Joker's disk now laid.

"Wow you managed to beat one of Joker's hallucinations" Suezo said the feeling of shock still with him.

"Something inside must have gotten Holly to fight" Golem said.

"Yes" Holly replied and gave Genki a quick wink "it did, now let's get out of this cave before any other baddies appear".


	7. When Rock meets Fire part 1

**A New Power Unleashed**

Twenty male workers grew tired and restless by the minute as the hot sun burned their skin alive. It was another cloudless day in Heaven's Canyon; the sky in fact looked bluer than it had ever been before. If they weren't so busy working hard and being tortured every minute, they would have taken this time to enjoy the beautiful day. But that was the very last thing they were allowed to do, according the baddies.

"WORK FASTER!" a Jell shouted.

First his leader had been destroyed by those pesky rebels and now he had just learned a few minutes ago that they had defeated Joker as well. The Jell tapped his whip. He needed to take it out on one of these slaves. He looked among the workers and spotted a young boy continued to dig with his shovel. While hearing the first warning, he began to work faster.

The Jell smirked finding his target. He made his way towards a boy who looked about fifteen-years-old and had his back turned to him. The Jell raised his whip high and struck the boy right in the back!

The boy screams echoed in the canyon causing the other workers to stop what they were doing and turn around.

His friend beside him immediately dropped his shovel and ran to the boy's side.

"Cody are you alright?" he asked then noticed beneath his torn shirt were several bloody slash wounds on his back.

He felt a surge of anger rise in him as he turned to the Jell "What have you done? Can't you see he's already had enough?"

"BE QUIET!" the Jell shouted "since my army and the Joker were defeated, Master Gali has ordered double punishment for all workers who dare to disobey!"

"BUT HE DIDN'T DO ANYTHING!"

"I said be quiet!" The Jell smacked his whip on the ground to give everyone another warning. When the workers went back to dig for mystery disks, he turned back to the man "get him up and get back to work or you'll receive ten slashes!"

The Jell walked away to curse on another group of workers. Once he was out of sight, the man helped his friend up. He tore the sleeves of his ratty shirt and used the straps to bandage the wounds. It wasn't the best treatment, but it would have to do as it was the only form of medical supplies they had since the baddies could care less if they lost one or two workers. The man pushed his greasy black hair out of his face as he continued to look at his friend who was still recovering from the pain. _Things keep getting worse and worse _he thought _I wonder who keeps making Gali furious?_

**_888888888_**

"We've been going on forever" Hare complained as his feet started to give up on him "can't we stop and take a break?"

After their last encounter with the baddies, the group continued in the direction the magic stone had pointed they go as soon as they got out of the cave. However, the hot sun seemed to be taking an effect on them as well.

Tiger groaned growing tired of the bunny's criticism "we took a break twenty minutes ago" he spat "stop complaining".

"Easy for you to say!" Hare snapped you walk on four feet, I'm sure you wouldn't last five seconds on two!"

"Says who!" Tiger yelled getting up in his face.

"Says I!"

Holly was about to tell them to calm down when she noticed a brown blob forming in the distance.

"I don't think we have to walk much further" she said "look up ahead".

Everyone, including Tiger and Hare stopped fighting and continued to walk until they came to a small abandoned village.

"Looks like this place is deserted" Genki observed as they caught sight of no life forms present.

What he said was true, broken wagons and carts were scattered all over the place and markets were destroyed as well. A row of small houses were beaten up as well. Most of the walls outside each house were cracked and the doors were torn open. Beneath some apartments, broken glass from the shattered windows lay in piles of glass that everyone had to avoid stepping in. For a moment, after observing what had become of this place, everyone just stood in silence.

Genki cringed as the image reminded him of the horrible hallucination Joker pulled on him back in the cave. Only this time, he was looking at the real thing and wished that it was just another trick.

"This is bad chi" Moochi said finally breaking the silence.

Tiger hung his head but let out a low growl "definitely Mu's work".

"Why does he keep doing this?" Holly said walking forward to a broken house.

"Holly this is Mu we're talking about" Suezo told her "remember what he did to _our_ village?"

"Yes but still..." Holly said, she stopped and noticed a blue fleecy blanket at her feet. The blanket was covered with brown patches of dirt but she felt the urge to pick it up. She ran her fingers on the velvet C that was printed on the soft fabric. Holly bit her lip and tried not to let the tears that threatened to spill from her eyes fall. Holding the blanket in her hands made her want to cry thinking that it belonged to a small child that was probably perished with the rest of the village.

"Still" Holly repeated then whispered "this hurts a lot of people".

Genki hung his head then raised it back up as he heard a soft rustling noise coming from the other side of the village.

"Do you guys hear that?"

"Hear what?" Hare asked facing him.

"That noise" Genki said "it sounds like a rush of water".

"Some one still alive in village?" Golem asked.

"I don't know" Genki said "but let's find out".

"Right" the monsters said.

Holly quickly tucked the blanket in her bag and nodded.

The noise seemed to be coming from behind one of the small houses in the village. The group sat behind the house and peeked out. A large green field stood out in the open behind the village. The grass looked old and dry as it was a mucky brown color. In the middle of the field stood a large torn cornfield. A tall monster came out from the other side of the house carrying a large watering can in his hands. He looked exactly like Golem except he was colored mostly red with large yellow patches on his stone skin. Without noticing the searchers, he made his way towards a small built cemetery ten meters to the right of the field and began to water small flowers on each one of the gravestones. This reminded Golem of what he used to do before he was discovered by Genki and his friends.

"Whose he?" Genki wondered.

"He could be a baddie" Tiger said.

"But if he is" Golem pointed out "why would he do a great deed like this?"

"There's only one way to find out" Holly said as they continued watching.

The monster continued watering the flowers, occasionally giving small smiles as he passed each gravestone.

"Crest chi?" Moochi said.

"I don't know" Genki replied squinting his eyes "it's too far to see".

"I can take care of that" Suezo grinned and pushed Genki out of the way to look in the direction.

Genki fell face first into the dirt.

Suezo's one eye brought the image of the monster closer "I don't see a baddie crest on him" he told his friends "so I guess he's not a baddie".

"That's a relief" Hare said "then this means..."

"That hurt Suezo!" Genki grumbled as he nudged him to move "get out of my spot!"

"Why don't you make me!"

They continued to push each other until both of them fell to the ground revealing their hiding place.

The Red Monster stopped watering and looked ahead.

"Oh crap" Genki said realizing the monster was staring directly at them.

"Uh...hi there" Suezo squeaked through a dry laugh "don't mean to intrude but..."

The monster dropped his watering can "visitors?"

"You guys okay?" Holly asked as the others came into view.

The monster gasped "more visitors?"

Genki finally got up "my name is Genki" he said introducing himself "and these are my friends Holly, Tiger, Moochi,"

"I don't care!" The monster suddenly yelled "GET OUT!"

"What?"

"GET OUT AND NEVER COME TO THIS PLACE AGAIN!"

"But why?"

"FIRE CLAP!" the monster charged a bright orange energy ball that hit the top of the house.

"Everybody run!"Genki yelled.

"FIRE CLAP!"

This time the power hit the ground beneath Genki.

"Out of the village!" he instructed "quick!"

The group ran out of the broken village and did not stop until they were certain the monster was not going to follow them.

Genki panted "is everyone okay?"

As everyone nodded their heads, Suezo snarled looking back at the village "what the heck was his problem?"

"Yeah" Hare said angrily "we didn't mean any harm".

Tiger shook his head "are you sure he wasn't a baddie Suezo?"

"Well, he wasn't wearing a crest".

"Does that really matter?"

"In most cases yes".

"Then why would he try to attack us?" Genki said.

Holly drew her gaze back to the front of the village. The monster glanced at the group, hung his head and walked back in.

"He doesn't appear to be evil" she said noticing the look on his face before he left "he just looks... lonely".

"Lonely!" Suezo exclaimed "HE TRIED TO KILL US!"

"Which he didn't" Holly reminded him "but we should do as he says and leave".

"Holly's right" Genki said "maybe he doesn't like newcomers".

**8888888**

"You call that finding mystery disks!" the Jell shouted at another worker then whipped him "I SAID FASTER!"

Hearing the poor man's screams, Cody turned to his friend after he had the strength to work again "Jacob, when will this nightmare end?"

"I don't know kid" Jacob replied pushing his hair back again "it's hard to say".

"But what about those famous rebels who keep on defeating Gali's armies?" Cody said with a hint of hope in his voice "I heard a Jell say they were planning to defeat Mu".

"You dream to much, those rebels are lucky _Mu _doesn't send a whole army of baddies after them" Jacob brushed dirt off his pants and thrashed his shovel deeper into the ground. He looked at his friend again "you'd better start digging before that Jell gives you another lash".

Above them behind some large rocks, seven heads poked out.

"I'm guessing those men are Mu's slaves" Genki said.

Holly nodded "the baddies are forcing them to look for mystery disks so they can rebuild Mu's army".

He stood up "well we can't just stand here and watch let's..."

Two voices made him stop talking. The group froze and crouched down lower so they would not be seen and listened to a conversation between the evil Jell and Hare.

"Is there any more of them left in that destroyed village?"

"We have learned that one monster survived" the Jell replied "but he refuses to join Master Mu".

The Hare snickered "let we'll let him suffer the consequences. I will take my army there and we can finish him off ourselves".

Once they left, Genki stood up.

"Shoot" he said "they're going to kill that monster".

"We have to go back to the village" Holly tugged at his sleeve "we must save him".

He nodded turning to Moochi "Moochi are you with me?"

"Chi" Moochi smiled.

"Wait a minute" Suezo said "why should we try to help him after what he did to us?"

"Yeah" Hare agreed "plus what about these villagers?"

"We can come back for them later" Genki said "it's not like the baddies are going to kill all of them if they are needed to find disks".

"The monster must have had some excuse for driving us out of the village Suezo" Holly pointed out "we can't let our grudges get the best of us".

"She is right" Golem said "hate is something only the baddies hold".

"All right I'll come" Tiger said stubbornly "but this doesn't make him our friend".

Genki placed on his roller-blades and took Holly's hand "hey, whoever refuses to join Mu's side is a friend of mine anytime".


	8. When Rock meets Fire part 2

**A New Power Unleashed**

"These flowers should be growing soon" the Red monster said observing the spot where he had just planted a seed near a tombstone.

He smiled and looked at the name written in stone "I think you'll like them a lot".

His thoughts were soon interrupted by a loud noise coming from behind him. The monster turned to see a heard of evil hares charging towards the village. He quickly ran out of his spot and came face to face with them.

"You are not welcome here!" he shouted hoping they would see him as a threat and leave. Unfortunately, the hares only snickered.

"Why waste your time in this pathetic village" the Hare Captain spoke, "you could be very useful in Master Mu's army".

"I'd rather die here then join forces with Mu!"

"Then I guess we'll have to make your wish come true" the Hare said "troops attack!"

The Monster tries his best to defend himself against the army and managed to whack a couple of hares down, but because of the large number; he soon found himself pinned to the ground with his face caked in the dirt.

He looked up and found the Captain of the hares laughing at him "any last words before we destroy you?"

"HEY BUNNIES!" Genki yelled causing the baddies to look in his direction "WHY DON'T YOU TRY PICKING ON SOMEONE YOUR OWN SIZE!"

"So these are the rebels who are against Master Mu" Captain Hare hissed. He motioned to his group "GET THEM!"

The Red Monster watched in amazement as everyone began to fight the hares.

_Slap!_

Suezo whacked a hare using his tongue and sent him sprawling to the ground. He smiled to himself unaware that another Hare was right behind him, ready to attack. Holly stepped behind Suezo and kicked the hare before he could deliver a punch to her comrade.

"Holly?" Suezo said, surprised by her fighting abilities.

She smiled "when I became Red Lady, fighting came naturally".

Pretty soon Captain Hare realized that most of his troops were down.

"This isn't over!" he yelled as he fled the scene with his surviving soldiers who left the monster still lying in the dirt. He took the opportunity to get up on his feet and brush dirt off his face.

"Are you alright?" Holly asked as her and her friends came towards the monster.

"I'm fine thanks to you all" he replied facing the group "that was very kind of you to help me after the way I treated you".

"Listen!" Tiger growled "we only did it because we're good at heart".

"Yeah'' Suezo agreed "not like you baddies".

"But I'm not a baddie" the Monster said "I despise them so much".

"You're _not _a baddie?" Holly said.

Genki looked confused "but if you're not a baddie then why did you attack us?"

"I'll explain everything" the monster said, he looked over his shoulder and then turned back to the group "but not here, quick follow me".

The group followed as the monster led them to a small cabin near the back of the village. It was the only house that did not look destroyed; only two large windows contained small cracks. Inside, to the right was a small bedroom with a single bed and in the center stood a small kitchen with a table in the middle with a couple of wooden chairs and stools. The house also contained an empty wide space living-room near the kitchen with nothing but a fireplace that looked liked it had not been used in weeks. Everyone stood quiet as they sat in the living room near the table.

"Forgive me for what happened earlier" the Monster said as he placed a tray of cookies on the table "please take one".

"Don't mind if I do'' Hare beamed grabbing the biggest cookie on the platter.

Everyone smiled and took a cookie each.

Hare took a huge bite and began munching on the biscuit. Suddenly, his face began to turn green and the gross flavour he tasted made him spit out the food on the table.

The Monster smiled sheepishly "made them myself".

"When?" Hare muttered under his breath.

Seeing his reaction, everyone tucked their treats away and drew their attention back to the monster.

"Why did you attack us earlier" Holly asked "did you think we were going to invade your land?"

"Sort of" the monster replied hanging his head "usually I wouldn't mind visitors...or at least I used to".

"Used to?" Genki said.

The Monster raised his head "my name is Red Rock; I would love to learn all of your names but first, let me tell you my story. This village we are in right now wasn't always like this. There were market places, children laughing and playing, adults and monster working in the garden or just spending quality time in the village. For me this was my home, I befriended every single one of the monster and humans. It seemed we were all a big happy family with the way we helped and took care of each other". He paused and hung his head again "but it was all too good to be true".

"What happened?" Genki asked eager to learn more.

Red Rock started at him "Several months ago, Mu and his army decided to attack. Before they came, we tried gathering up as many troops we could to fight and defend our village but most were too petrified to even think about facing him so they fled. I was part of our team with my too good friends Jacob and Cody thinking our army would stand a chance but we thought wrong. By mourning most of our troops were gone and by the time I realized it, I was unconscious. I'd figure the baddies probably left me on the field because they thought I was going to die.

He looked at each member of the group "so you see, that's why I attacked you all because I thought you were baddies coming to destroy what's left of the village".

"Now I understand" Genki said "you stopped trusting humans and monsters because of what happened to your village".

"We're sorry for you loss" Holly said and turned to Suezo who nodded "we lost our village to Mu as well".

"Wait a minute" Tiger pointed out "if you say that Mu killed all those people, why did we see workers at the hill?"

"Yeah" Hare agreed "it seemed Mu didn't want to kill everyone".

"Obviously not" Red Rock "I'm sure he let some people live so he could use them as slaves and make them look for mystery disks".

"Mu has tortured many people long enough" Golem said.

Genki slammed his fist on the table "I'm not going to let him get away with this!"

"But how can you not" Red Rock asked "now that we've heard my story, tell me what's yours".

"My name is Genki: and these are my friends Holly, Moochi, Suezo, Tiger, Hare and Golem. We are on a journey to find the phoenix so we can stop Mu from taking over the world".

"Ah yes, I've heard of that powerful creature" Red Rock said "it will end Mu for sure".

"But right now our journey must wait" Holly said and turned to her friends "we must go back to that hill and save the workers".

"You bet" Genki said "let's go guys".

As everyone headed out the door he noticed that Red Rock remained in the cabin "Red Rock aren't you coming?"

He shook his head "I must stay here and protect the village; good luck on your journey and I hope you bring the workers back here safely".

"First he says he loves all the humans but why won't he help?" Suezo wondered as everyone headed out of the village.

"Maybe he's afraid he'll lose again to the baddies" Holly guessed.

"Holly I think you'd better transform into Red Lady" Genki said "we may need her".

She nodded and walked away from the group.

Everyone stared at her as she shouted "RED LADY POWER MAKE-UP!"

Once she was transformed, she turned to her friends who all smiled st her "we must go!"


	9. A Victory and Sacrifice

"Cody how's your injury?" Jacob asked. The workers were finally out of their hot working area and were taking a three minute break the baddies allowed them to have (when they were in a good mood). Unfortunately, time would usually flow by really fast, forcing them to enjoy every second that lasted.

"It's fine" Cody answered, brushing off his friend's worry, "But hey, do you think those rebels will find us?"

Jacob groaned, "Enough with this rebel stuff kid; honestly I don't think anyone is strong enough to defeat Mu".

"What's all that whispering about?" Captain Jell snapped as made his way towards the workers. "Your break-time is over! Now start digging!"

"But it's only been a minute!" Cody protested.

"There is still some evil hares down there" Genki observed. Everyone stood back in the same hiding place, watching and waiting for the opportunity to strike.

"Geesh, how many of them are there?" Suezo wondered.

"By the looks of this," Genki replied, "a lot".

"Then tell me what you were whispering about" Jell said, cornering the two workers.

"Nothing sir," Jacob tried to explain. "We were just..."

"Just discussing how those Rebels will beat Mu's ass!" Cody shouted with a smirk on his face.

"Cody!" Jacob cried out as he and the rest of the workers stared at the youngest male with opened mouths.

"Bit your tongue!" Jell sneered. He motioned two hares to come forward behind the boy.

"Guys, we'd better acted fast," Holly said, watching the hares push the boy to the ground.

Jell walked a few meters towards him. "I will give you a choice: either apologize or die".

"Bite me!" Cody leaned forward and spat on him! "I'll never apologize to you!"

"Cody! Don't!" Jacob yelled. He tried moving forward to help his friend, but was held back by the hares.

Jell wiped the spit off his chest and smirked. "Very well then," he said slowly, "so long idiot slave!"

Just as he was about to strike, Genki and his friends raced down the hill.

"Leave him alone!" Genki exclaimed. He stepped in front of Cody, extended his leg and kicked him square in the jaw.

The Jell fell hard onto the ground and raised his head up.

"It's you seven again!" he snarled "Hares attack!"

Genki stood in front of Cody, protecting him, while his friends unlocked the chains on each of the workers fought the remaining eight hares using their techniques:

"TORPEDO ATTACK!"

"CHERRY BLOSSOM BLIZZARD!"

"MACHINE GUN PUNCH!"

"TAIL KICK!"

"TORNADO!"

"RUBY CHAIN!"

Soon, the Jell was the only monster left standing.

"Now it's time to finish _you _off!" Genki shouted as he started to back away from the Jell, "Red Lady now!"

"What?" The Jell said, turning around and coming face to face with the familiar girl. "It's you!"

"RUBY CHAIN!" Holly shouted, drawing a large red circle with a line in the middle.

The Jell gasped in horror as the line headed straight for him. He froze and shook with fear before the red power cut through his chest and turned him into a lost disk.

Genki stared at the disk for a moment then turned to Holly. He wanted so badly to go over and kiss her but knew Suezo and the others were watching so instead; he just smiled at her.

She smiled back and ran towards him with the rest of the group.

Jacob quickly ran over to Cody, "you okay bud?" he said, helping him up.

"I'm okay," Cody said and smiled at the group, "I knew you guys would come and help us".

"Who are you guys exactly?" Jacob asked.

"We'll explain later," Holly said, "but right now, we need to get you all out of here".

"Any ideas where to go?"

"Yeah," Genki replied, "Come with us".

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"Straight ahead!" Genki said when everyone was walking towards the location.

"Hey, isn't that our village?" Cody said, immediately recognizing the place.

"Yeah" Hare told him, "your friend Red Rock still lives there".

Jacob stopped for a second, "Red Rock is _alive?"_

As soon as they reached the village, Red Rock dashed up to meet with his old comrades. Everyone was overjoyed to see their old monster friend and even happier when he led them to his home to give them food and water. An hour later, when everyone (including the group) was finishing up their meals; Holly took Cody into a small hut and treated his wounds. He sat on a bench with his shirt off, while she (still in Red Lady form) took out medical supplies from her pack.

"This might sting a little," she said, shaking a bottle of medicated alcohol. "But it will help".

"Wouldn't compare to the last six months of my life," Cody sighed.

Holly stopped shaking the bottle and poured it onto a small piece of cotton. She made her way behind Cody and bit her tongue when she saw the large, bloody gashes on his back. She pressed the soft material down on his skin.

Cody winced, but straightened his back and kept still.

Hoping to take his mind off the pain, Holly asked, "So how old are you again?"

"Just turned fifteen a couple of weeks ago," he replied, "can you imagine celebrating your birthday working as a slave?"

"No I can't," Holly said. She applied more alcohol on the cotton and pressed it down again, "but I understand what you're going through".

"What's that?" Cody asked as he spotted a familiar object sticking out from Holly's bag. "That looks just like my old blanket" he reached out and gently took it. "Hey, it is" he smiled.

"Oh, yeah I found that on the ground," Holly explained, "I thought it might have belonged to a child that was destroyed with the village".

Cody continued to smile, "well I used to play with it as a child, see that's why there's a C printed on it; my parents gave me this for my first birthday" he stopped mid-sentence when a frown came across his face, "they were killed in the battle against Mu, till that day, Jacob took me in since he and my mother were best friends and he was close with the family".

Holly hung her head. The room was filled with silence for a while until she finished placing bandages on his back.

"I'm sorry," she said and walked over to a bucket in the corner of the room to wash her hands.

Cody tossed his torn shirt aside and placed a new clean one on him.

"It's alright," he assured her, "by the way, what do they call you when you're dressed like that?"

"Well I guess I should introduce myself to you as Red Lady but you call me Holly if you'd like".

"Then you and you're friends are going to defeat Mu?"

"That's what we're hoping to do".

"Well, thanks for the help Holly," Cody said. He headed straight for the door, "I must speak with Jacob and Red Rock alone".

"Your welcome," Holly said when he left. She turned around and began packing her things when a voice came up behind her, "so how is he?"

She turned around and saw Genki.

"His injuries were a little severe," she told him, "but I think he's going to be okay".

Genki leaned against the door-frame. "Poor kid," he said, "imagine all those years as a slave, it must have...wait a minute...did you see him with his shirt off?" He eyed her suspiciously.

Holly was a little surprised by his question, but replied, "Yes. Why? You're not jealous are you?"

"Me _jealous_?" Genki smirked as if it were a joke "Pfft, yeah right".

"Good," Holly smiled and returned to packing her things.

The room fell silent again before his voice said, "You know if you want me to take off my shirt right now I can".

Holly rolled her eyes, turning back to him "Genki..."

"No really," he insisted. He starting pulling his shirt and started tucking it over his head, unaware that he was still wearing his hat. Holly couldn't help but smile as he tried pulling it over his head, but failed helplessly. Here he was: Genki the monster champ! Who claimed he was tough enough to fight anything and yet, he was jealous of a boy she hardly knew.

"No stop," she said as she reached over and pulled the shirt back down when it was halfway up his chest.

He stood still as she spoke, "Genki, look he was just a person that needed my help and I helped him, besides..." she gently pressed her lips on his before pulling back, "my heart belongs to someone else".

Genki sighed, but kept a smile "I know," he said, "I'm sorry, guess this is the one of the rules in a relationship I have to follow".

She nodded, "if you want this to work".

"Well I do, speaking of which," he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close to him.

"I wanted to say great job on destroying that evil Jell back at the mine".

She smiled, "thank-you".

"No," he whispered in her ear, "I wanted to thank-you in another way". He slipped his hands underneath her legs and carried her to the bench. She lay down while he bent over and kissed her. The two lovers were so locked in the embrace...that they did not hear the back door slide open. They continued kissing, laughing with each other until a loud cough was heard behind them. Holly and Genki froze and turned to see Tiger standing in the door-frame with a blank expression planted on his face.

"Tiger!" Genki immediately got off Holly and cleared his throat, "uhhh..." he suddenly leaned back and crossed his arms over his chest."What's up?" he said, trying to act casual.

Holly got up from her position, but remained on the bench. "What's...wrong Tiger," she said, trying to seem casual as well.

"Just thought I heard noises," Tiger said, "are you guys _okay?"_

"We're fine," Holly told him, "Genki was just showing me a defence position, you know...we always have to be prepared".

"Since when does being prepared require making-out on a bench?"

Genki laughed dryly at his friend's comment, trying to break the awkwardness.

Tiger shook his head. "Okay guys, the fun's up," he said, "I know you both _really _like each other...I saw you at the river".

Holly and Genki looked at each other.

"Wait?" Holly asked, "If you knew about us before, why didn't you say anything?"

"I didn't want to blab it out in the open," Tiger told her, "I haven't known you for very long Holly; but I know Suezo wouldn't be the happiest person on earth if he knew about your relationship".

"Point taken," she said with a nod.

"Look Tiger," Genki said, "I know this is a shock to you, in fact, it's a shock to everyone." He paused and took Holly's hand, "but Holly and I are together because we love each other. She's the best thing that's ever happened to me, despite meeting you guys".

Her eyes sparkled, "Really?"

He smiled back, "Really".

She was about to kiss him again but quickly remembered Tiger was still present.

Tiger smirked, "don't worry your secret is safe with me. I know you guys love each other so perhaps it's best if we wait to tell everyone the truth".

"Thank-you Tiger," Holly smiled, hugging him. "You're the best".

"Yeah, thanks man." Genki said, "We owe ya one".

"Just one request," Tiger said as they all started to leave the room.

"What's that?"

"Never let me catch you guys doing it again".

88888888888888888888888888888

The next morning after everyone finished breakfast; the gang packed up the rest of their supplies and got ready to hit the road.

"Thank you all for saving us," Jacob said as they prepared to bid farewell. "We don't know if we could have survived without your help and I'm sorry for doubting you".

Cody agreed, "are you guys sure you don't want to stay?"

"Thanks," Hare said, "but no thanks".

Holly nodded, "we must continue our journey".

"It was a pleasure meeting you all," Red Rock said, standing behind his two friends.

Everyone turned around but as they did, something caught their eyes. Captain Evil Hare led his group and they were coming closer and close to the village.

"What?" Genki said.

"More hares chi!" Moochi gasped.

Tiger growled, "They never give up, do they?"

"What are we going to do Jacob?" Cody asked.

"We're going to have to fight them!" Jacob said, "there's no way they're going to drag us back into that mine!"

"Are you sure everyone is willing to battle again?" Hare said.

He nodded, "We all discussed this last night; no one is afraid anymore. This time we will fight these hares until none of them are left standing!"

"We will too," Golem said.

"Yeah," Genki agreed, "if you're going to fight them, you can count us in".

"Come with me," Cody said, "we must inform everyone at once".

As they all agreed and headed back to the village, Red Rock called to his friend "Jacob!"

He faced him, "Yes?"

"Let me fight with you".

"What! No, that's out of the question!"

"Please".

"No, Red Rock we almost lost you once due to the battle, we can not risk it again".

Holly, who had heard the conversation, decided to step in. When the rest of her friends followed Cody, she turned to Jacob.

"Jacob? I think if Red Rock wants to fight he should get the chance".

"I've already made my decision," he told her firmly.

"A decision I'm not happy with," Red Rock said, "I want to help protect this village, you weren't the only one affected when our home was destroyed".

Jacob paused for a moment, looking at Holly then at Red Rock. Finally, he nodded, "All right you can fight with us".

"Thank-you".

The three of them hurried to join the others and Red Rock gave Holly a small smile. Soon, the rest of the villagers were gathered together, creating a protective line in front of the village entrance.

"Is everyone ready?" Genki asked his team. They nodded, including Holly who was back in Red Lady form.

"Everyone ready?" Jacob said to his men.

"Ready!"

"Okay!" Jacob shouted once the hares entered, "let's go!"

After a series of attacks and battles to what seemed like hours and hours, all the hares were mostly defeated thanks to the workers and the courageous seven. Unfortunately, there was only one more Hare left hiding in the bushes-Captain Hare.

"I think that's all of them," Genki said, as Jacob and Tiger knocked down the remaining hares.

"Good work man," Cody said, setting his weapon down.

"Thanks," Genki said, "you too".

"Guess I misjudged you Red Rock," Jacob said, "You fought pretty well".

Red Rock smiled.

Before anyone could rest, Captain Evil Hare peeked out of the bushes. "I might be going," he hissed, "but I'm taking someone with me". He jumped out of the bushes.

Everyone gasped.

"LOOK OUT!" Hare yelled.

Genki and Cody turned around.

"GENKI!" Holly screamed.

"CODY!" Jacob yelled.

The hare launched a massive machine gun punch attacking, using all his remaining strength. But before he could attack the two boys, a huge figure ran in front of them and blocked the attack. Captain hare punched Red Rock very close to the heart and caused him to collapse on the ground. He gave a smirk as he turned into a lost disk.

"RED ROCK!" Cody cried.

He and Jacob ran to his side while Holly went to check on Genki.

The two people placed their friend lying down on his back before speaking to him.

"Red Rock?" Cody said.

Jacob leaned forward, "Red Rock are you okay?"

The monster said nothing and coughed loudly. It was at that point, that Jacob saw a circle of blood dripping out of his chest.

"J-J-Jacob?" Red Rock stammered, "C-C-Cody?"

"Yes?" Jacob said, placing his own hand on the monster's huge arm, "what is it?"

"Forgive...me."

"Forgive you? For what?"

"I was...such a coward...after what happened to our village...I could have gone up to save you all...but I was afraid...afraid I might lose again...this is why I wanted to fight right now..." he stopped to cough out blood and then continued, "thought it would prove I wasn't worthless".

"You're not worthless!" Cody said, hugging him tightly as tears started spilling from his eyes, "You're part of our family!"

Red Rock managed to smile, even though it hurt. "And I always will be," he closed his eyes and his body slowly disappeared and turned into a lost disk.

"No!" Cody shouted, banging his fists on the stone, "RED ROCK!"

Jacob wrapped his arms around his friend but he started to cry as well, "good-bye my friend".

Holly felt raindrops on her hand and looked up. The clouds in the sky had turned grey and the rain began to pour. She de-transformed and her real hair and clothes got soaked but that did not matter to her. Everyone hung their heads, as the rain began to pour harder and mourned for the loss of their friend.

The next day, a funeral was held and the workers managed to move Red Rock's lost disk into the small graveyard he had built for the others. The searchers packed their supplies again and stepped out of the village.

"I don't know how we can thank you for helping us win the battle," Jacob said as him and Cody were going to say the final farewell.

"It's no problem," Genki assured him with Moochi on his back, "We're always happy to help".

"Help chi," Moochi said.

Jacob smiled, "well, thank-you".

"So what do you all plan to do now?" Holly asked.

"We're going to rebuild our village like it was before," Cody replied, "we'll protect it and never let it down again, I'm sure that's what Red Rock would have wanted".

"Red Rock was a very nice monster," Golem said.

"Yeah," Genki agreed, "he'll always be a hero to us".

Cody said, "Thanks, and good luck on your journey to defeat Mu, I'm sure you guys will win".

Jacob and Cody waved as the searchers started walking down the path away from the village. As they got further away, Holly looked back at the two men. Red Rock was gone, she was sure of that, but one thing she knew for sure, he would always be in the hearts of those who loved him. That was one-hundred percent clear.


	10. Gail's invitation

**Okay, I know it's been a while since I last updated and I am truly sorry about this. A couple of people PM me and asked if everything was okay. My life has just been really hectic lately and let me explain why. My grandfather was sent to the hospital because of kidney failures and now he is on dialysis. He's doing a little better now, but the doctors don't know how long he has left to live but I'm still glad he is still alive to spend Christmas with us. We are also waiting still for the doctors to tell us if he has pancreatic cancer or not which may be a cause of why his body is shutting down. Also, the pressure of having to do well on exams and other tests has also caused me to set writing aside as well. But today I put my foot down, and made it my goal to finish a chapter today since I haven't updated in awhile and did not want to let my readers wait any longer. Hope you guys enjoy it :) Here is my Christmas present to all of you.**

* * *

Several days after battling the evil hare army and encountering new friends, the searchers continued their journey travelling in a very hot desert. Sweat poured down everyones' faces as the hot boiling sun came over them. Now they knew exactly how those workers felt back up at the hill.

Suezo collapsed, "Water".

"I'm thirsty," Moochi whined.

"We all are Moochi," Genki said as everyone stopped to take a break, "but we can't seem to find a descant water hole here."

"That's for sure," Hare said, digging up a spot where thought a small pond of water would be but found nothing there.

"Well, no kidding," Tiger growled, as his desire for the liquid began affecting his temper, "we're in the desert!"

Golem nodded, "Tiger is right".

"Holly, are you sure the magic stone pointed here?" Genki asked.

"Yes," she replied, "but maybe I should check again". She took out her special green pendant and concentrated hard, holding the magic stone in her palm hands, whispering the secret words. Everyone gathered around her and watched as the shadow of a yellow bird came up and turned into an arrow, pointing straight ahead, indicating to everyone they were heading in the right direction.

"There's no denying it now," Holly told her friends, looking in the same direction, "this is the way".

Hare groaned and took a seat on a rock.

"Still, it would be nice if there was water somewhe..."

His thoughts were interrupted by a loud sound coming from a far distance away. A huge sandstorm whirled up and grabbed each of the searchers in its sandstorm. Everyone yelled as they began spinning in the pool of sand uncontrollably.

"WHAT'S GOING ON?" Genki shouted, feeling nauseous.

"WHO THE HELL IS DOING THIS!" Tiger exclaimed.

After what seemed like a four hours but only lasted five minutes; the sandstorm finally stopped and all seven searchers landed roughly in front of a huge door still covered head to toe in sand.

"What the heck was that all about?" Hare said, angrily.

"That was some ride," Holly said, brushing sand off her shirt.

"One thing for sure, that was no ordinary sandstorm," Genki said. He took off his baseball cap and turned it over, watching in awe as sand came pouring out of it.

"I'm still dizzy chi," Moochi moaned, touching his head.

Golem looked at the front door, "where are we?"

"Looks like this is a..." Genki reached out and gently touched the door, but as soon as he did; he tripped when it suddenly swung open fast, landing flat on his face.

Inside the door, a beautiful coloured palace stood with a walkway in the middle and straight ahead was a huge water fountain.

Suezo's eyes lit up, "WATER!" He jumped on top of Genki and began running towards it.

"Hey Suezo!" Genki said, but stopped, noticing the fountain.

"Hey wait up!"

All the monsters, (except for Golem) joined the two and began taking long sips of water.

"AH!" They all said in unison, "WATER!"

Suezo turned to Holly who stood back, feeling a bit cautious.

"Holly, aren't you thirsty?" he asked.

She was about to reply _no_ but then shrugged it off. _Oh, what's the harm? She thought, it's just water._ Holly sat on the edge of the fountain and dipped her hands into the water, taking small sips of the nice cold refreshment.

She stopped for a minute and looked up, "Suezo, there must be someone living here."

"But look at the place;" he told her, "it's completely deserted".

"I guess," Holly sighed, drinking more water.

Suddenly, a loud chuckle was heard.

Everyone stopped drinking, seeing a ghost like figure with a golden sun painted plate for a face, step out of the building, coming towards them through the walkway.

He chuckled again, seeing the reactions on everyones' faces, "welcome to my castle".

"A baddie chi!" Moochi cried, noticing his crest.

"Very clever little one," the figure said. He stood in front of them, "I am Gali, one of Mu's Big Bad Four."

"So this is all Mu's doing!" Genki said.

Tiger growled, "We're ready to fight you!"

"What's the rush?" Gali said as the tone of his voice seem to change into a casual quality instead of fury.

"Ha, is Gali of the Big Bad Four scared of us," Hare taunted, "you must have heard of our reputation".

"Yes and I applaud you for your small success," Gali said, even though it clearly sounded like he did not mean a word of it.

"Why not let me cherish all of you?" he continued.

"What does that mean?" Holly asked, "You're saying you _don't _want to fight?"

"No," Gali said, "I have some food back in my room and I simply cannot eat it all by myself."

Suezo frowned, "sounds like a trick."

Golem shook his head, "I'm not hungry."

"Oh come now," Gali urged, "don't you trust me? It is true, I am a baddie, but it would be so foolish of me to attack you now; I live here completely alone and none of my troops are present so I would not stand a chance against the seven of you."

"Hmm, he does have a point," Genki said, "I don't see any other baddies here."

"Follow me," Gali said. He turned around and started walking down the pathway.

"Do you think it's safe?" Holly asked as the others held back for a moment.

"I think he may be telling the truth," Tiger answered, "but we'd better be cautious."

The group agreed and followed the baddie until he brought them inside a large room with a huge table covered in food, including large boulders.

"FOOD!" Suezo exclaimed, drooling at the sight. He stepped away from the group and dived for a large piece of chicken on the table.

"Be careful Suezo," Holly warned him, "it could be poisonous!"

"Now, why would I do that?" Gali said.

The one-eyed monster began chewing on the food lightly before saying, "tastes fine to me."

Gali smirked, "you see? Go on everybody, help yourselves."

They looked at one another and slowly began taking the food. After realizing the taste was fine and no one was having a bad reaction, they ate faster.

"That's it," Gali sneered, "good isn't it?" He continued to smirk as the surrounding walls began to turn into yellow rug shaped creatures.

Everyone dropped the food in their hands, noticing the monsters.

"MORE BADDIES!" Hare yelled.

"THEY'VE MANAGED TO CAMOUFLAGE THEMSELVES INTO THE WALLS!" Tiger said.

Suezo snarled, "So Big Bad Gali was just a Big Fat Liar too!"

Gali smirked again, "all is fair in love and war and unfortunately; I don't believe in love."

The searchers gasped as sand burst out of the floor, the windows, and started to fill up the room.

"Welcome to Gali's special sandbox!"

"DAMMIT, I'M SINKING!" Genki shouted as the level of sand came down to his waist. He turned his head around, "GOLEM! THROW ME AT GALI!"

"I don't think they'll be none of that!" Gali spat, launching his attack, "GALI FINALE!"

The power flew at the group, hitting each person hard as they cried out in pain, except for Moochi would managed to hide underneath a lit from one of the plates of food.

Holly shut her eyes tight and winced, expecting the power to hit her like it did everyone else, but instead; a red aura formed around her, causing her not to get harmed.

_What's happening? She thought, what is this?_

In a flash, the power was gone, but everybody sank into the hole.

When they were gone, Gali stood still, pleased with the work he had accomplished, "they will be put to sleep for a very long time, so long rebels!"

* * *

Holly felt her head spin a mile a minute, as she got up on the pile of dark sand.

"Oww," she said, rubbing the back of her head gently, before turning to her comrades, "is everyone okay?"

A plate dropped from the ceiling and landed at her feet.

"Moochi?" Holly said, removing the lid to find the pink monster.

"Moochi!" Moochi smiled.

"Are you okay?"

"Chi."

"Well, that's good," Holly smiled back but noticed the rest of their friends, "but is everyone else all right?" She left Moochi for a moment and walked over to one particular person who she was certain was always ready, "Genki?"

"Yeah, Holly," he smiled weakly.

"You okay?"

"Of course I am," Genki said, standing up, "I'm the monster champ," he tried walking forward but ended up falling back on his butt, "see?"

"Hare get up chi!" Moochi said, checking on his remaining friends, "Tiger, Golem, Suezo!"

"Go away Moochi," Hare moaned.

"Leave us alone," Tiger said, lying down for a nap.

Suezo rolled his eye, "you never learn."

"Golem tired."

Holly looked at them, "Moochi, I think Gali's attack overpowered them."

"Chi?"

"It must have drained all their energy," Holly observed and waved a hand over Genki's face but received a blank reaction. She turned away and faced Moochi again, "You were protected by that plate lid and I think the Red Lady power protected me so we're the only ones that still have our energy."

"What do we do now chi?"

"First thing's first, get out of this place."

Holly looked up at the ceiling, realizing the hole where everyone fell in was still there; it was much smaller though.

"Quick Moochi," Holly held out her hand, "we must combine our energy in order to get out of this place."

The pink monster ran over to his friend's side and took her hand. They both concentrated hard as a new pink aura formed around them. Moochi spun into a ball, still holding Holly's hand and they both spun out of the hole.

"We're back," Holly said, noticing the same room as the aura faded away. The only difference was that the room was not covered with sand anymore nor did it contain a table filled with food.

"Good thing no one's here," she added, then suddenly crouched down on her knees, "but we'd better sneak out of the palace before Gali finds out we made it."

Moochi stared at the hole, "what about our friends?"

"We will save them," Holly said, "but we must come up with a plan first."

The two of them quickly made their way towards the hallway and ran out of the palace. They found a suitable hiding place and ran behind the water fountain.

Holly peeked out, "okay none of Gali's baddies are present so our plan must be very simple," she stopped, noticing a frown on Moochi's face, "what's wrong?"

"Ever since our journey to beat Mu, we have ran into a lot of trouble chi,"

"That's right," Holly nodded, "the more troubles we face, the stronger we become."

"Moochi not wiser."

"Why not?"

"Suezo said so."

Holly shook her head, _oh Suezo, what did you say now?_

"He said the truth," Moochi said, glumly, "Everyone has a new power except for Moochi."

Holly placed an arm around his small shoulders, "Moochi don't listen to a word Suezo says," she said, "We're very lucky to have a powerful monster like you on our side. And don't worry about getting a new power, it will come around; you'll see." She hated seeing any of her friends hurt like this and while the rest of the group was usually strong in this type of situation; Moochi tended to be the sensitive one, him still being young and naive. And while Genki and Suezo were having a little disagreement about his teleport power, Suezo had let it out that Moochi had not even contained a new power other than his blizzard attack. Holly still loved her monster companion, but sometimes he said things without really thinking how it would affect those around him. Now Moochi was upset and she did not want to see him like this. Not only did she hate seeing him hurt, but this was a time when she really needed him to stay strong in order for their plan to work. She was indeed Red Lady, but she had only been in two fights and who knew if she was strong enough to defeat Gali and rescue her friends by herself. Well, she would have to hold off Gali that was for sure, just until Moochi had gotten their friends out. And just because everyone had developed a new power; it did not mean that the new power would not come in the future for the pink monster.

Moochi beamed, "Really?"

Holly smiled, "Really, you just have to be patient and wait until the time is right."

"Thanks Holly, chi," Moochi smiled, hugging his friend, "I'm glad you're my friend."

"Me too,"

After the embrace ended, Holly explained the plan, "I will transform into Red Lady and distract Gali while you go find some rope and pull everyone out of the hole,"

Moochi nodded, "right chi."

The both of them took separate directions as Moochi ran into the back of the palace and Holly made her way back into the hallways. She wondered around until she found and came across a particular room with a picture of a sun on the doorframe.

"This has got to be it," Holly said to herself, she took a quick peek and found Gali pacing in his room.

She took a deep breath, "here it goes; RED LADY POWER MAKE-UP!"

"Those rebels were far too easy to defeat," Gali said, "but how shall I get rid of them for good." He stopped dead in his tracks, feeling a presence behind him. He turned around and spotted a young lady standing a few feet away.

"I am Red Lady!" Holly proclaimed, "born to protect the Earth, I will do everything in my power to stop Mu and his baddies including you!"

"So you managed to escape," Gali said, facing her. He held out his cape open before more rug like creatures came into view and surrounded Red Lady.

"GET HER!" he ordered.

The rugs all headed straight for Holly but she flipped back, knocking three straight into each other, causing them to crumble into dust. She ran into the wall and extended her leg and kicked one creature and then spun around and punched the other one.

She stared at their leader, "is that the best you've got?" she taunted.

Gali seethed, watching his remaining troops disappear before he launched his own attack, "GALI STRIKE!"

Holly jumped out of the way and crashed to the ground.

She got back up on her knees and looked up at the floating figure above her, "this is going to be a long battle,"

* * *

Meanwhile, Moochi managed to find a well with a bucket tied to a rope. He gathered it up in his small hands and ran to the room where his friends were

"Why don't we play a game first," Gali suggested evilly as a huge boulder came rolling towards Holly's direction, "CATCH!"

But she prepared herself, the boulder was just centimetres away; Holly opened her mouth and screamed, "HAHHHHHHHHHH!" The series of echoes came at the rock, crushing it into a million pieces.

"You're actually pretty good," Gail muttered under his breath, "it's a shame a pretty and powerful fighter like you has to be destroyed; Master Mu would gladly have someone like you on our side."

"You can go to hell!" Holly snapped, "I will never join forces with Mu!"

Gali shrugged, "suit yourself, now Red Lady it is time for your days of protecting earth to end. GALI FINALE!"

Holly quickly did a back-flip, managing to miss the attack as it hit the wall. Unfortunately, it had created a huge hole where Gali could see a clear view of Moochi in the room with the rope still clutched in his hands.

"Oh-no!" Holly cried, watching Gali disappear, she turned to the hole, "MOOCHI! LOOK OUT!"

"Chi?" Moochi said then gasped as Gali appeared in front of him.

"So you survived as well," Gali said, "now this will be double the fun."

* * *

Genki looked up from the pile of sand and started up at the large hole, hearing loud screams.

An image of Holly screaming flashed in his mind, "Holly?"

An image of Moochi tumbling to the ground appeared the second time, "Moochi?"

He crawled to the top and started to pile up the sand in order to make it look bigger.

"What are you doing?" Hare asked, looking at him.

"Holly and Moochi are in trouble," Genki replied, grabbing more sand, "we must pile this up so we can gather up our energy back."

"Holly's in trouble?" Suezo said, moving beside him, "here, let me help."

"Yeah that's it," Genki nodded, before beckoning to the rest of his friends, "come on guys."

The five of them joined the two and used their remaining strength to pile up the sand.

Moochi screamed again as he was hit by the "Gali Strike" and fell to the ground.

" Moochi, are you okay?" Holly asked, rushing to her friend's side.

"Poor fools," Gali sneered, when they both looked at him, "it seems the hole is getting smaller."

The two drew their gaze away from the baddie and towards the hole. To their horror, he was right for it began to shrink.

"NO!" Moochi cried, running up to it.

"MOOCHI WAIT!" Holly said as she tried following him but several rug creatures appeared again and blocked her passage.

"CHERRY BLOSSOM BLIZZARD!"

The attack stopped the hole from getting any smaller but unfortunately; Moochi got caught in the process.

"CHI!" he exclaimed, trying to squeeze out of the hole.

"MOOCHI!" Holly screamed, kicking another baddie out of her way, "HANG ON!"

She tried running forward but the creatures blocked her again and one of them pushed her from behind. She tried getting up, but the rest of them stood on top of her waist and the heavy weight held her down to the ground, preventing her from rising.

Gali chuckled darkly, "you might as well surrender."

"NO!" she shouted as she struggled to get free, "WE'LL NEVER GIVE UP!"

"CHI," Moochi agreed, "WE'LL NEVER GIVE UP NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS!"

Suddenly, there was a loud blast as the five of their friends burst out of the hole. Bits of pieces of the floor flew everywhere, leaving a small scratch on each of Gali's assistants.

"Moochi!" Genki said, landing beside his friend. He then noticed the rug creatures gathered around Holly and quickly skated towards them. He punched and knocked out the baddies off her before helping Holly to her feet, "you okay?"

"I'm fine, you?"

He smirked, "never better."

The searchers defended themselves against Gali before defeating the baddie leader himself. Genki ripped off part of his mask and with the help of Moochi's new attack, "the Moochi Cannon" the second leader of the Big Bad Four was soon turned into a lost disk. As his grave formed, everyone ran out of the corrupt palace as it shattered to the ground and ended up becoming nothing more than a cloud of dust.

"Well, that was a tough ride," Genki commented and smiled at Moochi, "now we've defeated Gali and it's all thanks to Moochi."

The little pink monster smiled, but then his stomach gave a loud growl, "Moochi hungry,"

Holly giggled as the wind came up and lifted her black hair off her shoulders, "Okay Moochi, you can have whatever you want after the deed you've just accomplished."

The rest of the group joined in laughter and walked towards an area far away from the palace where they decided to camp out for the night.

A couple of meters away, in a small bush; a small purple plant like creature called a Weed remained in his spot and continued to spy on the rebels with interest as he stared at one particular human girl who, according to what he had been listening to, was called "Red Lady". Not only did she develop the Red Lady power; she also has the power to work the magic stone as well. He decided to continue to spy on the group until he learned more reliable information he knew for certain would please his master back at the floating castle.

* * *

**Well, that's it for now. I'm sorry if it was not the best, but like I said before, I did not want to keep you guys waiting any longer. Hopefully, this long chapter paid off for the long wait. Thank-you to everyone who has been very patient with me and has stuck by this story :) And thank you to the people that were concerned and emailed me to make sure I was all right. It really means a lot. I don't know when I'm going to update again but I will definitely finish this story as I am really liking it so far and want to have it completed. I hope everyone has a wonderful and safe Christmas and happy holidays to you all!**

**Till then, Butterflygirl1234 **


	11. A New Face

**Hello! I'm back!**

**Okay, I know it's been eight months since I last updated (I know, I'm terrible!) and let me explain why.**

**1) January- June was filled with nothing but intense homework and studying for my finals in order for me to boost up my grades to gain the chance to be accepted into university (which I did yay!)**

**2) I had a graduation party in July and I've been trying to spend as much time with my friends as we will see very little of each other when we depart our own ways :sniffs: as well as enjoying my summer relaxing and working part-time before it's back to school work in September.**

**3) I've also been on writer's block, having no clear idea how I'm going to move on from the last chapter but I've finally got some ideas and now I'm so excited to write it all down, hopefully I will not get stuck again :P**

**So these reasons have been the cause of my late writing and how I haven't had any time to login on fanfiction. I truly apologize to my loyal readers and I truly hope this chapter will pay off for it. I am also sorry that I haven't had the time to review your stories but I will for sure as I'm sure they are great!**

**Okay, enough babbling and on with the story :D Last time we left off, the rebels had successfully defeated the second member of the Big Bad Four Gali with Moochi and Holly's teamwork and never giving up. But soon after the battle, a Weed seemed intrigued by Holly and the powers she contained. Will he inform his Master or will he try to find someone else to accomplish the mission?**

* * *

Holly was exactly where she was supposed to be.

She was snuggled up against Genkis's broad chest in his sleeping-bag. After dinner had been served, everyone helped clean up and settled in for the night. Once everyone was sound asleep, the young boy beckoned Holly to come at his side. She had been a little skeptical at first; what if Suezo somehow awoke and found them or what if one of the other monsters did? At this point however, she did not care and by the time she was in his arms, she was glad she did not refuse.

Genki shifted a little in his sleep, his rapid breathing becoming heavier as his stomach moved up and down. Holly moved closer into his embrace, giggling a little, seeing his sleeping form. She leaned forward and gently pressed her ear against his chest where his heart was, the soft beating echoing lightly.

Suddenly, she heard a soft noise in the distance. Holly quickly raised her head up and listened again. The noise sounded like someone crying, like a small child. Perhaps, it was lost and could not find its way back home. Holly stared at her friends, surprised that all of them seemed to be over-passed by the sound. It was not likely that no one would have heard it. It must have been too faint for their ears and maybe one of the side effects of Red Lady was rapid hearing.

Holly quickly kissed Genki's cheek before slowly creeping out of the blanket and walking away from the campsite, determined to accomplish the task herself. She grabbed a small stick of fire, using it as her source of light. This may have been dangerous for her to go alone but in case anything got out of hand, she could always turn to Red Lady for help. With one final glance at the campsite, she turned around and made her way towards the forest.

The noise grew louder as Holly walked passed the large trees, the orange flame from the wood flickering on the green colour, making it appear a lighter shade. She continued to walk for a few moments and then spotted a small figure huddled against another tree. Holly quickened her pace and ran towards the area. Her prediction was confirmed as she realized it was a small girl who appeared to be no more that seven years old.

"Excuse me?" Holly said, kindly, kneeling down next to her, "are you all right?"

The girl's eyes flashed at Holly and she stopped crying and began shifting away.

"It's okay," Holly cooed, trying to soothe her, "I'm not going to hurt you". She brought the fire closer to the two of them, the light revealing a very red and puffy eyed child. Holly's heart sank, feeling pity for this poor human, "where are your parents?" she asked, "Are you lost?"

"No!" the child cried out, sobbing again in her hands, "my parents...dead! They killed by b-b-b-badies!"

"Hush now it's okay," Holly gingerly touched the top of her head as she continued to cry, "Do you have any other family? Where is your village?"

The sobbing stopped and the child stared at Holly again, this time she seemed entranced by her face, causing Holly to suddenly feel a little sick.

"No village, no parents" the girl said, "_you _killed them!"

"What?" Holly said, shocked by her words, "I never..."

"YOU KILLED THEM! YOU KILLED THEM!" the girl repeated, screaming, "YOU BADDIE! YOU BADDIE!" She stopped speaking only to give a high pitch scream.

The noise was so thunderous that Holly dropped her stick as the fire lit out and covered her ears with both her hands. She stepped away from the horrid child but felt something tingle against her stomach. The screams started to dye down as she un-tucked her shirt and looked in aghast as a baddie crest started to from on her skin. She raised her head up, gasped as she glanced at the spot in front of the tree.

The child was gone.

Holly felt her hands grow warm as blood began to drip out of her palms, the crimson colour travelling down her legs and shoes, creating pools of liquid on the ground.

"S-s-top!" Holly stammered, never taking her eyes off her hands, "p-p-please stop!"

"_YOU CAN NOT STOP THIS HOLLY!" a monstrous voice echoed through the forest, "YOU BELONG TO THE DARK SIDE!"_

"NO!" Holly screamed, dropping to her knees, more blood flowing faster out of her hands. The trees began to blow heavily, leaves scattering in every direction, surrounding her.

She screamed at the sky, "NO!" but her cries seemed unheard as a deep, merciless laugh erupted throughout the entire atmosphere.

* * *

"Holly! Holly!"

She felt her world spin as someone appeared to be shaking her.

"NO! STOP!" she cried out, jamming her fists at the person, her eyes remained closed, "LEAVE ME ALONE!"

"HOLLY!" it shouted out desperately, "Holly wake up!"

She slowly opened her eyes, her vision becoming clearer as she soon met Genki's eyes. She glanced around the location, realizing they were not present at the campsite but in the path Holly walked in when she heard the noise.

Recovering her memory of the dream, Holly turned back to Genki, a look of horror plastered on her face.

"Are you okay?" Genki asked, noticing her face, his arms still tightly wrapped around hers.

Holly glanced down at her hands- there was no blood on her skin. She quickly lifted her shirt; there was no tattoo of a baddie crest.

"Holly?" Genki repeated.

"I belong to the dark side!" Holly whimpered, "I killed people!"

"What?" Genki said, puzzled, "what on earth are you talking about?"

"That's what the voice told me," Holly sniffed as tears began to roll freely down her cheeks. She buried her face in Genki's chest, "I saw a child, a small child and it was crying and..."

"Shh, it's all right," Genki said, holding her in his arms, "it was only a nightmare; you're safe now".

The two stood together in silence, except for Holly's faint cries continuing until she stopped and asked, "How did you find me?"

"I woke up in the middle of the night and you weren't beside Suezo like I saw you before so I went looking for you," Genki explained, rubbing her back gently as if to soothe her "I panicked when I couldn't find you around the campsite but I heard rustling in the forest and that's where I found you. You were passed out and kicking and crying out in your sleep; you must have been sleep walking."

"Sleep walking?" Holly echoed flatly as she pulled out of Genki's embrace, "I've never experienced that before."

"Well there's always a first time for everything."

"I guess."

Silence again.

_So sleeping beside Genki must have been part of the dream as well, _Holly thought_._

Another moment of silence fell down before Genki cleared his throat and stood up.

"We better head back," he said, holding out his hand, "you okay to walk? I can carry you if you want"

Holly shook her head as she let herself be helped up to her feet, "It's all right, I'll be fine but thank you though," she gave him a small smile.

As Genki led her swiftly back, Holly could not help but gaze back at the spot again.

But like before, nothing was there.

When the pair walked fully out of the forest and were out in the open, a familiar monster peeked out of the tree which remained as his hiding spot.

He scratched his head, having witnessed the events that had just unfolded before him, "hmm," he said, curiously, "how strange for a human to behave that way... this girl must be special". He decided it would be best if he would sent someone he knew to find out more about this particular girl.

* * *

Holly slept dreamless the rest of the day which bore no trouble to her. She did not believe she could handle another nightmare like the one before, if it occurred again. It was not long when the sun rose up, indicating that morning came. After breakfast was completed the group walked their usual path once Holly summoned the magic stone.

She closed her eyes, concentrating hastily as she whispered the words, "_magic stone, show me the way"._

When her eyes were closed, her mind began to spin with images:

_Two women engaged in a battle, one brunette, and the other blonde. Their faces were blurry but Holly could tell they were battling each other. They both stood on a platform, each one with a sword in their hand._

_*flash*_

_The brunette knocking the blonde woman to the floor with her sword pointed at her throat._

_*flash*_

_A creature with scales, fangs and wings laughing at the sight and applauding._

Holly gasped and opened her eyes, bringing her back to reality.

Tiger noticed, "Something wrong Holly?"

She began to pant frantically, not answering his question.

"Holly chi?" Moochi said.

"I'm fine," Holly said, appearing her normal self, "I'm fine". She looked down at the stone and turned to her friends, "we keep going straight".

"Holly are you sure you're all right?" Suezo asked, "You've been awfully quiet lately."

"Yeah," Hare agreed, "is there something on your mind?"

"Is Holly not feeling well?" Golem said.

"Holly, maybe you should tell them what happened," Genki said with a look of concern on his face.

"You're right," she nodded, "I can't hold it in any longer".

"WHAT HAPPENED?" Suezo exclaimed, giving Genki a dirty glare, "AND WHY DOES HE KNOW?"

"It's fine Suezo, don't worry" Holly said, attempting to calm her monster companion. It took awhile for her to explain the frightening dream she had about her and the small child and the fact that Genki found her in the forest after she had been sleepwalking.

"Sleepwalking?" Suezo said, his voice steady, "But you've never been like that before".

"I know it was strange to me as well," Holly spoke, "but I think it was more of the dream that concerned me".

"You sure of what this voice said to you?" Tiger asked.

"Yes, I remember it clearly," Holly told him, "It said '_You belong to the dark side'"._

"But that's isn't true Holly," Genki assured her, "you don't belong to the dark side; you belong with us."

"I know that," she told him, "perhaps we should forget I ever brought this up, it was only a dream and nothing more than that".

"Are you sure?" Suezo said.

"I'm positive," she said with a smile although she feared she would think about it again afterwards.

* * *

It took a few hours before the Weed could finally catch a good wind, in order to fly back towards his location. Once he was present in the air, he flew to a hidden tunnel at the edge of a cliff. It was the same base that the former human workers were forced to slave into before it became primarily empty, except for the baddies and their general leaders. Since the rebels had managed to save the human workers, many monsters were forced to dig themselves through the dirt in order to locate more mystery disks, much to their dismay.

The Weed scurried towards the main room and opened the door, revealing a dark scenario with nothing present except an old wooden chair and a few small mystery disks that were soon to be sent to Mu's floating castle.

"Azure!" he called out, "are you in here?"

"Did someone call me?" a young woman suddenly appeared floating in the ceiling. She appeared as a normal human being with pale skin, her golden blonde hair cascading down her shoulders and her back.

"What is it Weed?" she asked, still in the air, picking at her fingernail, "you know how much I loath being disturbed for no reason."

"I have a mission for you," the Weed smirked, drawing her attention.

She sighed, "Oh, finally!" She disappeared again, only to re appear in front of him minutes later.

"I've been stuck in this room for ages;" she complained, "tell me what I must accomplish, oh and I beg you, make this more challenging than the last mission you provided me with," she sighed again, "that family was too easy to kill".

"Well then this may make you feel better," Weed said, "you have heard of those rebels that are trying to overpower Master Mu?"

Azure nodded, "those foolish twits who destroyed Gali and managed to turn Pixie into one of them. Yes, I know them".

"Well, there is one certain member that draws attention to me," he spoke, "a human girl, her name is Holly and she has the power to wield the magic stone and become "Red Lady".

Azure shook her head, "so what will you have me do? Knock her over the head with my fist and bring her to you? Yes, that seems challenging enough".

"I need you only to find information," he told her, "find out what her strengths and weakness are and if she is capable enough for us to present to Master Mu. I'm sure he will be very pleased of we brought him back a valuable prize"

"Hmm, well I hope she puts up a battle when I face her," Azure laughed wickedly, spreading her arms and twirling around back up in the air.

"I LOVE A GOOD BATTLE!" she yelled, flying out the window into the day sky.

* * *

"HARE STOP SPLASHING ME!"

"OH C'MON TIGER, YOU KNOW YOU LOVE IT!"

"NO I'D LOVE TO TAKE A DRINK BUT I CAN DROWN YOU IF YOU'D LIKE!"

While the two monsters continued in their water fight battle, Genki, Moochi and Suezo took the opportunity to fill their water supplies while Golem volunteered to see if there was any fresh fruit he could find on the forest for their journey since it was clear he did not wish to go anywhere near the water.

Holly sat on a rock in the lake, twirling a stick in the water, creating ripples forming in circular motions. She had already offered twice to help her comrades, but they brushed her off and beckoned her to sit down, knowing she was still required to recover from the nightmare she had encountered. Holly still felt her stomach form in knots as the flashbacks of the nightmare begin to repeatedly play in her mind, refusing to depart from her memory. Normally, her dreams or nightmares would not affect her very deeply. She contained dreams every since childhood and none of them had frightened her, most of the dreams presented her with positive things and happiness whether or not they came true. In fact, most of them were of her and her companions continuing their journey with success at locating the phoenix. Others were of seeing her family again alive and well instead of destroyed. And some even contained her and Genki living happily in the future. When Holly's village had first been defeated, she experienced nightmares every night for some time but never had it been as severe as the one she had the night before. What drove her with concern particularly was that certain child blaming her for killing her parents and village. Why would any person accuse her of acting out something despicably such as that? Never in her wildest dreams would Holly ever have thought to kill or hurt anyone. She loathed the actions the baddies occasionally would go through with and the day that her village burned to the ground, she had made a vow to never become like any of them, only to put an end to all the suffering they and their leader had caused. All right, it may perhaps have been just a nightmare she had never experienced before but what about the images she had seen when conducting the magic stone? Looking back, she remembered spotting a blonde woman and a brunette and a monster smiling and laughing as they fought but that was it? The monster must have been Mu, she figured, who else would have adored such an enraged sight?

Maybe it was not her own imagination acting out but the power of Red Lady. What if these two women were in trouble and the power was merely trying to send her a message?

A loud _crash _jolted Holly out of her mind as she let out a loud gasp, dropping the stick and letting it fall with a small _splash _into the water. Everyone else stopped what they were doing and turned to the direction where they heard the noise.

"It's sounds like it's coming from the forest," Genki said, setting his water bucket aside.

"Golem still there chi!" Moochi squeaked.

"I smell baddies!" Tiger shouted with a growl, "Let's go!"

The remaining six ran as fast as they could into the forest when they came across their rock monster friend slamming two large Dino monsters into a boulder.

"Golem!" Hare yelled as they caught up to him, "what's going on?"

"I went to find fruit," Golem answered, "then... Golem was attacked by baddies."

"Well, don't worry," Genki said, the team facing the group of dinosaurs, "we'll get them!"

A loud laugh erupted through the forest as a woman landed on top of the tree branch, facing the rebels.

"So you're the feisty little beings that challenge Master Mu!" she said, crouching in a low position, her face still focused on Genki's, "well we do not require the need for that. DINOS KILL THEM!"

_I'd better transform, Holly thought to herself, who knows what this girl has up her sleeve._

Azure continued to watch as the rebels fought her army but could not figure out where this so called "Red Lady" was . All she had spotted was a girl with brown hair fighting courageously like the rest. Strange, for a normal human being, she did contain impressive skills she had to admit. She scowled to herself and raised her sword from her belt when she heard a noise.

"RED LADY POWER MAKE-UP!"

She glanced at the girl who had shouted the words and was now transformed into a lady with a different shade of hair and different clothes.

_That must be her, _she thought_, _recalling Weed's description, _well then let's see what she contains._

She quickly dropped to the ground and faced the captain Dino who remained standing behind his troops.

"Captain Dino, hold them off while I go battle the human girl!" she ordered before whispering in his ear, "and make sure none of them follow us"

"Yes, my lady!" the monster replied with a smirk across his face, "Consider it done".

He gave her a swift nod before she twirled around and disappeared out if sight.

Holly leaped forward, kicking a dino square in the jaw, sending him tumbling to the ground. She ran forward again towards Genki as he battled another one. He quickly grabbed her arm, flipping her over his body as she delivered another kick, the same event occurring.

Genki smiled as Holly stood on the ground but the look in her eyes clearly warned him that another dino started to creep up behind him. He turned around, prepared to take on him.

Holly smiled as his actions as she took the opportunity to get back on her feet. However, as soon as she did, she felt two claws grab her shoulders from behind, lifting her off the ground. She gasped, hearing the same laugh echoing and it dragged her further and further away.

Genki had just finished knocking the dino down when he noticed Holly was not present where she was before. He glanced around the field, wondering if she was engaged in another battle but could not spot her anywhere.

"HOLLY!" Suezo screamed, drawing the attention of everyone as they noticed the woman carry her off further and further away.

"OH NO!" Hare yelled.

"C'MON GUYS LETS GO!" Genki shouted. The group began to run towards the direction Holly was taken to but the Dino army blocked their path, preventing them from entering any further.

"Mistress Azure will do whatever she pleases with your little friend," Captain Dino, smirked, "and if you must desire to get back to her then you will have to destroy our entire army".

Genki looked back to his friends who all nodded in agreement.

"Then so be it!" he said, shoving his baseball cap around his head.

* * *

"HOW'S THE FLYING RED LADY?" the woman cackled, her claws gripping Holly's skin tighter.

She gasped in pain, glaring up at the woman who made no eye contact with her and continued to look straight ahead. Holly desperately tried to strike and claw at the woman, aiming for her to drop but she soon realized that because of the great height they were off the ground, it would have proved deficient as it most likely occur that she would die if she fell. But she need to find another way to escape? Who knew where this baddie would take her to. She silently prayed it was not a place where blood would be splattered upon her hands. After everything that had occurred on that day, the nightmare had still been the number one thing on her mind. She also prayed that no innocent human being would be killed because of her- especially an innocent child.

The blue surrounding sky seemed to vanish as the woman flew Holly into a small dark cave. Once they were in, she carelessly dropped her victim face planted to the ground.

Holly moaned in pain, experiencing the dense fall. She felt something moist around her cheek and ran a finger across her skin, gasping as blood steeped through her fingers.

"Hmm, I don't know why the Weed would think Master Mu would desire you," Azure said, lazily, floating in the air and twirling her finger in her hair, "you do not seem like any other human but you are definitely not a worthy catch to fight over".

Holly astonishingly felt a twinge of angry explode through her veins; normally, she did not give the slightest when any type of baddie had commented her of her fighting skills. It was after all in their nature to become heartless and cruel but this woman for some reason made Holly want to tear to pieces. If she wished for a battle then she would certainly acquire it. But she first, needed a weapon to fight her with. Holly spotted a sharp spear lying on top of one of the large walls of the cave, its position fixed in a large hole. Perhaps it was left there by a baddie or even a human. At this moment, she did not give the slightest. Without turning around, Holly ran towards the wall and grabbed the spear, flipping back and landing with her feet on the ground, facing her opponent.

Azure smirked, "now, that's more like it!"

Holly fiercely held the spear in both hands with a determined glare in her eye. Azure turned her head around and smirked, disappearing again.

Holly was stunned, but kept a firm grip on her weapon. She circled the room fro awhile, wondering where the woman had gone off too when Azure suddenly reappeared before her and smacked her in the face, sending her sprawling into the wall. Holly cried in pain as her back began to feel numb and more blood trickled down her body. She slowly started to get back up on her feet when the woman grabbed her by the back of her shirt, aiming to throw her once more. Holly was prepared this moment however, and kicked the woman in the face. She gasped in pain, letting her grip go and started to back away, still holding her hand to her face. Holly raised her spear and prepared to strike the woman down but she quickly drew out her sword and the two girls soon found themselves engaged in a battle- woman vs. woman. The fight consisted of a series of kicks and weapon hitting as the pair continued to fight. Holly managed to hit her several times in the chest and legs but was already starting to feel dizzy in the middle of the battle prior to the amount of blood loss she contained. She feared if he did not receive medical care soon, she might bleed to death if she had suffered more violent injuries. She had hoped she would manage to continue on. Even with the power of Red Lady, this woman appeared to be the most difficult baddie she ever fought with.

Azure's swung her sword hard, aiming for her heart but Holly blocked it, using the spear as her shield. The weapons clashed firmly, the loud material making a clanging noise every time they came in contact with each other. The sword suddenly swung down again, knocking the weapon out of Holly's hands, rolling to the side of the cave.

With her weapon gone, Holly spun into the air, grasping the ceiling before spinning above Azure and landing behind her. She did a series of back flips as the sword attempted to strike her and ducked to the ground. Having no other way to fight, she ran into the wall of the cave, pulling out a few rocks and throwing them at Azure. She smashed them with her sword as the came flying at her but missed the last one which delivered a great blow to her face. She howled in pain, backing up again.

_That should be enough to keep her busy, _Holly thought as she took the opportunity to run towards the entrance of the cave. Azure gnarled as she watched her run away. She removed her hand from her face and raised her sword,

"ICE STORM!" she yelled.

Bits of ice star cubes flew out of the weapon, aiming directly at Holly. Before she could escape, several bits flew at her, striking her on the back. Holly cried out again, feeling as though her back was made of ice. She sprawled to the ground, only a few meters away from the entrance. With the main attack and the rest of her injuries, it was enough power to de-transform Holly and she soon found herself back in her regular outfit. She stood up and tried to crawl away but heard soft footsteps coming behind her. Azure held her sword firmly as she cautiously approached the wounded girl. Holly turned herself around and found herself face to face with Azure's sword, the blade directly inches away from her throat. It was at this moment when Azure could finally glance at a clear view of Holly's face.

The ocean blue eyes soon meet the hazel brown ones.

Azure's face grew in shock as she shifted the blade back a little away from Holly. She remained silent for a few moments, transfixed by her face as if she were deep in thought. Holly only remained on the ground motionless, surprised that she did not take the opportunity to kill her.

Finally, what appeared to be the longest moments of a lifetime, she smiled, "hello, _Xaviera_".

Holly glanced up at her puzzled, _what did she call me?_

"How long has it been," Azure asked, fully drawing her sword away, "two...three hundred years since we last spoke to each other".

Holly quickly brought herself back up and stared up at her blankly.

Azure noticed the expression on her face.

"So," she said, smirking, "you don't remember do you?"

"I don't know who you're talking about," Holly said, her courage increasing, "my name is not _Xaviera_; it's Holly".

"Ahh, so you go by a different name now then," Azure said, "well I'm not surprised that your fighting skills have not diverged one bit; you still contain the similar strengths the last time we fought". She paused and walked away, turning her and adding, "and yet, you have new powers to add to your strengths." She tapped her fingers lightly against her sword and whispered to herself, "strengths that the Master wills surely be pleased with".

"What strengths?" Holly said, now desperate to learn what she was referring to, "we've never fought before!"

Azure turned around, "oh yes we did my dear _Holly, _only last time it was I who was merely the one learning and you my trainer".

"Trainer?" Holly said.

"You taught me a lot of things," she spoke with a stern tone, "and it was the day that I died that I learned the greatest thing of all from you".

"If you died then why is it that you stand before me today?"

"So many questions Xaviera, so little time," Azure twirled around in the center of the room before blowing bits of smaller ice pieces out of her mouth into Holly's face. Holly immediately felt dizzy and her vision blurred even more causing the young woman to fall back to the ground. The pain began to surpass in her body as she could no longer feel any blood and her back was normal again and did not feel frozen.

"The only reason I am going to heal you and let you live, "Azure's harsh voice whispered into her ear as she knelt down besides her, "is because I know the Master would be most enraged if his prize would be perished. But be aware Xaviera, I will tell him of your existence and he will come looking for you". She faced away and stood up again, "one day we will fight again and this time, I will not lose". Those were the last words she spoke before she twirled around and disappeared. Holly remained dazed in her spot as her vision became heavier.

"HOLLY!" she heard a voice cry in the distance before she succumbed to the darkness.

* * *

Once she was finished informing Weed of the discovery in her mission, Azure flew towards the floating castle, hoping to have a quick meeting with her master. She quickened her pace; walking though the halls of the castle before coming to the room she knew where Mu would normally occupy himself with. She was just about to knock on the door when another Weed hurried out. She remained standing in the door-frame, patiently waiting for her master's orders.

"Enter," Mu's voice echoed throughout the room.

Azure swiped in, her icy blue gown trailing behind her as she curtsied at the center of the room, "Master," she said.

"What is the purpose of your visit Azure," Mu asked, curiously remaining in his throne chair.

"I have valuable information," she spoke, facing him, "on one of those certain rebels who are on their quest to locate the phoenix".

"Oh, is that it?" Mu's curiosity grew wider, "which particular rebel?"

"A human girl," Azure replied, "the one who contains the power to use the magic stone and-"

"And become Red Lady," Mu finished, scratching the edge of his throne chair lightly; "the Weed has already informed myself with this information". Before her visit, one of the Weeds had told Mu of the certain human girl he had learnt from his fellow companion and had made plans to capture her. What struck Mu the most was the girl was able to control the magic stone. And her name was _Holly, _a particular name he was familiar with.

"Yes, but Master she is more than that," Azure said, not wanting the pleasure she would give her master to vanish.

Mu's eyebrows rose up, "what do you mean by this?"

"Master..." Azure said with a smirk across her face, "the girl is _Xaviera_; she has come back to us again".

When she spoke the name, Mu rapidly rose from his chair, the quick noise making Azure jump as she backed away a little.

"WHAT!" Mu exclaimed, "THAT GIRL HAS BEEN DEAD FOR THREE HUNDRED YEARS, THERE IS NO POSSIBLE WAY SHE COULD COME BACK AND BE ABLE TO HAVE SUCH POWERS AS SUCH POSSESSING THE MAGIC STONE!"

"But master I saw her face," Azure started to tremble at the tone of his voice, "she looks exactly like her but has no memory of her life and goes by a different name".

"That seems impossible."

"I swear to you it is the truth," Azure stopped speaking a summoned a blue orb in her hands. The image showed a young girl with brown hair and hazel eyes looking up from the ground at her opponent. Mu's glanced at the picture at it froze, the girl's face clearly shown.

"_Holly," _he said, then spoke, "_Xaviera"._

"Master?"

"You're suspicions are confirmed Azure," Mu said, drawing his attention away from the orb, "well done".

Azure smiled as it disappeared from her hands, "would you like me to bring her to you?"

"No!" Mu answered, sitting back down, "I'll go and find the girl myself, after you have told me of her whereabouts you are to go back to the base where you stood before and remain there until I call for you again, is that clearly understood".

Azure nodded, deeply, "yes master".

Once she told him the location where the girl and her friends were, she bowed again before slowly exiting the room, departing back to where she came from. When she was gone, Mu walked to the large window in the room, staring deep into the night sky. A smirk ran across the face of the King of the Baddies as he reached into his cape, gently pulling out a picture. The picture had been worn out and the brown paper was a little crumbled but the person was still clearly visible on the sheet. The picture showed of a young girl looking forward with an evil smile plastered on her face.

The girl looked exactly like Holly.

* * *

**So what do you think? **

**Hmm, who exactly is Xaviera and why does she look like Holly? And what did Azure mean by "the next time we battle?" and what are Mu's connections with Xaviera? Stay tuned :D**

**I will try to update another chapter before September starts but I can not make any promises but I guarantee you all that I will try my best! And I promise even if this contains late updates in the future, this story will be completed :D**

**Future notice (events that will occur later in the story, may be spoilers, if you don't want to know then don't read :P).**

**- Holly finds herself captured in the floating castle and befriends one member of the Big Bad Four.**

**- Azure disappears for awhile until her and Holly battle again.**

**- Mu tries to show Holly the identity of his other side as well as Xaviera.**

**-Holly tries to escape but fails.**

**- Holly is shocked and horrified when she finds out who the other side of Mu is.**

**- Genki and the others plan to rescue her before it is too late.**

**- Everyone finds out of the secret relationship between Genki and Holly.**

**- The gang met up with their old friend Colt who may contain the answers to their questions.**

**- Holly has another flashback.**

**- Holly finally finds out who Xaviera truly is.**

**- A new member will join the courageous seven. **

**-Big Blue and Pixie come to aid the team.**

**- Vanessa pays Holly another visit.**

**- A new enemy soon spots Holly and develops an interest in the girl.**

**- Holly finds herself abducted again but not for the reason she assumes.**

**- The team and Naga square off.**

**-Azure and Holly battle once more- who will be victorious?**

**-Xaviera is brought back to fight.**

**-Time is running out for Genki; he must return back to his normal world.**

**- The team must find a way to summon the phoenix before Mu's powers are fully restored.**

**Thanks so much again to my loyal reviewers- you guys are the best!**


	12. Help!

**A New Power Unleashed**

"_Hello Xaviera"_

_"How long has it been two...three hundred years since we last spoke to each other?"_

_"You don't remember do you?"_

_"One day we will fight again and this time I will not lose"._

"HOLLY! HOLLY!" Suezo's horrified shouts caused the wielder of the magic stone to jolt awake as she remained in her place on the cold ground floor. Her friends quickly gathered towards her, an expression of worrisome visible on each of their faces.

"Holly are you all right?" Suezo asked frantically, appearing at the side of his fallen companion, "That girl didn't hurt you did she?"

"No, I'm fine," Holly replied, finally standing up on her own two feet. The icy feeling on her back had disappeared and the blood that had been travelling down her body had vanished entirely; even her clothes did not appear to be stained with any of the fluid.

"What happened to you guys?" she asked, "did you manage to drive off those Black Dinos?"

"Well, we were in the middle of the fight," Genki explained, wiping the sweat off his forehead, "but when that blonde lady came back, she ordered them to retreat and when they were gone, we followed the direction where she took you".

"Why... did that lady... take Holly?" Golem wondered, the curiosity rising in his chest.

"Yeah," Hare agreed, "I mean no offense Holly but it seems kind of shocking that she would just randomly pick you up when we were all fighting".

"Maybe she wanted the magic stone," Tiger guessed.

"What happened when she brought you here?" Genki asked, "Did she try to take it from you".

"Well… no actually," Holly answered, "she just brought me here, we battled, and then she called me some name".

"What name chi?" Moochi said.

"She called me Xaviera."

"Xaviera?" the group said in unison.

"Who's that?" Genki said.

"More importantly," Suezo quickly spoke up, "why did she call Holly that name?"

"She must have mistaken Holly for someone else," Hare predicted, turning to her, "maybe you resemble another girl she hates."

"I don't think so Hare," Holly said with a light sigh, "I remember it clearly; as soon as she looked into my eyes she acted as though she knew me for years. And just when I thought she was going to finish me off and destroy me, she managed to heal all my wounds from our fight and then the next thing I knew, I blacked out".

"That's strange," Tiger said, "it's unlikely any baddie would do that".

"Yeah," Genki agreed, nodding his head, "especially if any of them heard of our reputation of planning to destroy Mu."

"Does… Holly know why that… lady did not attack?" Golem said.

"Hmm, I'm not sure," she spoke, "but she said Mu…."

Before the girl could complete her sentence, a huge blast erupted in the cave, forcing everyone to duck and cover. Golem speedily grabbed everyone and wrapped them with his huge rock arms, shielding his friends from getting harmed. Bits of rock and dust from the cave hole flew in various directions and a huge powder of dust filled the entire spot. The seven coughed noisily as the cloud cleared up and when Golem let go, out of the powder stepped one particular individual, causing everyone to freeze and stare agape.

A slight chuckle escaped from Mu as he descended towards the rebels with the three Weed sisters at his side. After several months of continuously clashing with his numerous troops including two of The Big Bad Four, the courageous seven were a little stunned, but then again it did not cross them as a huge shock that the King of the Baddies would finally come searching for them. After all, during the attempts to destroy them, they had taken down all the baddies that came their way; they even managed to get a monster like Pixie on their side, one who used to be very faithful to her master.

Holly and Suezo glanced at each other as memories of their village attack began to play in each of their minds. What was once called as "loving" and "peaceful" now lied burnt to the ground, along with their loved ones who risked everything in their power to protect it. Now here they were, standing only a few feet away from the monster responsible for it all.

Finally, Genki spoke up, "so you've come to fight?" he shouted, "Well you'll be sorry you ever came here!"

Mu laughed cruelly as his gaze shifted to the boy, who glanced at him with clear irritation in his eyes, "hey I don't like being laughed at so watch it!"

"I want the stone," Mu spoke darkly, suddenly flashing his eyes towards Holly.

She gasped and clutched the magic stone to her chest before taking a step back. Genki immediately reached in front of her in a protective mode.

"Holly, get out of here," he whispered to her.

She looked at him dazedly, "what?"

"You heard me," he said, beckoning to Suezo, "Suezo get her out of here and hid, we'll stay and battle Mu."

"But we can't leave you guys here, you made need our help" Holly said, fearing for the safety of her friends.

"There's only one thing he wants- the magic stone," Genki said firmly, "We can't let him have the opportunity to take it."

"He's right Holly," Suezo agreed, although he feared a great deal for his friends as well, the more important thing was hiding the stone from Mu, especially if it meant Holly could possibly get harmed in the process.

"See? Even Suezo agrees with me for once," Genki said, "now go!"

Holly gazed at him then finally nodded her head and her and Suezo started to leave the cave as their friends got into battle position. Before they left Holly called back, "Genki!"

He turned to face her.

"Be careful," she said then her eyes told him, _I love you._

_I love you too, _his eyes replied back to her along with a swift nod.

The human girl and the yellow monster could hear sounds of clashing as they ran out of the cave at a heavy pace. They continued scamper into a forest until they came to a complete stop, believing that they were not being followed. Holly panted heavily and leaned against a tree while her companion sweated a great amount.

"H-H-Holly…" Suezo panted, his large tongue sticking out of his mouth, "y-y-you gotta keep moving…. I-I-I'll hold him off w-w-w-while you run".

"What no Suezo," she said, clearly not wanting to abandon her friend; she had already had been forced to leave everyone to fend for themselves, including Genki and she was not so willing to do the same thing to the eye ball monster.

"There's no time to be stubborn," he said, getting a little irritated at her response, "he wants the stone; you have to go without me".

"No!" Holly said, staring at him in the eye, "Suezo, I'm not going to leave you!"

"Hello my dear," a deep, dark voice sounded out of the forest.

The pair gasped, realizing that Mu had managed to catch up with them. Suezo was about to take a step forward to fight when Mu suddenly appeared at the front of him and struck him across the face, sending the yellow monster sprawling into the air before he hit the side of a tree and landed on the ground with a loud _thunk!_

"SUEZO!" Holly exclaimed, watching him fall but rapidly began walking backwards as Mu's huge form started towering over her. Unexpectedly, she tripped over a loose root on the ground, landing flat on her bottom with her hands behind her back.

"Holly is it?" he said, sending shivers up her spine as he spoke her name.

"GET AWAY FROM ME!" she yelled. She was surprised she had the courage to stand up to him for a moment, but after remembering the actions he had committed in the past, she was determined to not let him have power over her.

"Now, now," Mu chuckled again at the girl's bravery, "let's not become enraged shall we?"

He stepped closer, until a huge white orb appeared in his giant claw. Holly had little time to react before it came into her chest; she instantly became very drowsy and tried to fight off the spell but it proved too prevailing as her eyelids fluttered closed and her body began to fall back. Before she could hit the ground, Mu reached out and grabbed her in his hand. When he was certain, the girl was entirely unconscious; he turned around, walking to the path that led to his floating castle with Holly still in his clutches.

**Well wut do you think? I know I kind of skipped the parts with the whole gang battling Mu but I wanted to focus mainly on Holly since she is obviously the main character in my story and besides, we all know how the battle occurs between the rebels and Mu anyway lol!**

**Please review! The next chapter will be better I promise :D**


	13. An Unlikely Aid

Holly found herself surrounded by blurry shades of pink, yellow, and green as the memory of what had occurred earlier escaped from her mind. She walked a few steps forward until noticing an unknown figure a few feet ahead from her. He had his back turned towards her but it seemed the girl knew him from somewhere. The image soon became clearer and Holly gasped, "_daddy?"_

All of a sudden, she felt two arms grab her shoulders, turning her away from her father. Holly was about to scream but stopped, recognising the familiar face.

"Vanessa?" Holly gasped, "w-w-what? H-h-how?"

"There's no time to explain Holly!" she said, squeezing her tighter, "you must leave this place!"

"What, what's happening?" Holly cried out, "what…."

"HOLLY LEAVE!" Vanessa shouted, her forming suddenly backing away and disappearing out of sight, "NOW!"

Her world started to feel normal again as Holly slowly drifted back towards consciousness. She gradually opened her eyes, glancing at her surroundings. Instead if the dark cave, she found herself in a large black room with a window to the side. In front of her stood Mu with his back towards her; the same position her father had been in a few moments ago. Holly felt her stomach turn as she realized that the King of the Baddies had taken her and she now found herself a prisoner in the floating castle. She was about to scream but speedily covered her mouth, preventing any sound from coming out. Mu remained standing and did not seem to take notice of her movement. Remembering the events that had occurred earlier and Vanessa's words, Holly cautiously crawled towards the back end of the room where the door remained opened. She would move slowly with every step, occasionally pausing and turning back to see if Mu had noticed. When he did not, she managed to line up against the doorframe and with one swift movement, she quickly walked out of the room. As soon as she was present in the hallway, Holly sprinted down the path, hoping to be able to locate some sort of exit where she could escape. _But how can I escape, _she thought, _even if I do find a door that leads me out of the castle it's not like I can just step outside. _

Frustration filled her mind as she came to a stop, leaning against the wall for a moment before she began to hear voices coming from the other end of the hallway. Holly gasped under her breath and slipped into one of the rooms to the side that did not seem occupied at the moment. The room was pitch black as she backed further and further away and hid behind some wooden boxes. She peeked out, watching two cabollos and two Worms casually walk down the hallway. Holly breathed a sigh of relief, since they had not entered her hiding place. All of a sudden, a loud noise caught her attention coming from the other room next to her. Holly swiftly placed her ear against the wall and listened; the sounds appeared to be moans of pain but she could not tell whether they were human or monster. Curiously, Holly waited a few minutes to see if any of the baddies would appear in the hallway once more. When she was certain no one would enter, she walked out of the room and slowly peeked her head into the other room next-door. The room was a dark, similar to the other ones but it contained a yellow light in the center, providing the only source of illumination Holly could make use of to view what the situation was. There was a large case of steel mental stairs she could use if she wanted to enter down to get a better look from the spot she was in. However, given the fact that there was a large group of weeds and other types of baddies, Holly realized she would be outnumbered very easily if she were caught.

She dropped down and hid behind the metal railing in order to be hidden out of sight and glanced down. The wielder of the magic stone felt her heart ache as she discovered that the screams belonged to several monsters that were being tortured by the baddie groups. It was a little difficult to view but she could see an observation of baddies chaining up monsters that appeared to bear no baddie crests to the wall and move onto the procedure of turning them evil. After a monster was whipped numerous times, the baddies would then transport them onto a table where they were forcibly tied down while two other baddies would place crests on them and therefore, converting them to the dark side. They would then escort the newly born baddie to another room Holly figured would be where they would work to treat the wounds and start training their new armies. Holly felt tears start to leak from her eyes but she quickly blinked them back before they could fall down her face. Without thinking, she raised her hand and whispered, "Red Lady Power Make-Up."

Nothing happened.

Puzzled, Holly tried again, still nothing happened. She sighed, realizing that she must have been drained out of energy by her last battle with Azure. The thought of being outnumbered quickly appeared in her mind again. _But I can't just stay here and do nothing, _Holly thought, standing up and backing away from the railing, _I have to do something, I have to…_

"Pleas-s-s-sant view is-s-s-sn't it?" a voice hissed behind her.

Holly froze in her place and cautiously turned her body around.

Standing right in front of her was a monster that she had dreaded ever since his involvement in the attack upon her village, the leader of the baddie group who had destroyed everything they contained and ended numerous lives. Mu may have been the King of the Baddies who had also been present during the clash, but to her, Naga was the mad dog who had been let off the leash to wipe out her entire home. He stood there, his tall purple scaled form with vivid yellow eyes staring into hers. Holly tried to force herself to run, down the stairs or anywhere but that spot, but her legs would not budge.

Naga chuckled darkly and moved his gaze away from her and crossed his arms over his chest and stood in front of the railing, glancing down below.

"Maybe you s-s-s-should t-t-t-take a l-l-l-look more c-c-clos-s-s-ely?" He suggested, turning towards her again, "let us s-s-s-show you what the darker s-s-s-side feel-s-s-s like".

Before Holly could respond or make any movement, the purple monster suddenly threw a puff of purple smoke straight into her face. Holly coughed several times, her vision blurring and her eyes started to well up from the painful sting. She began to breathe heavily but managed to quickly glance as Naga's form began to slither towards her, causing her to scream out loud.

Her vision remained unclear and her whole body was insensitive as she felt herself being carried by an unknown individual and placed upon a rough steel table. Holly attempted to look up but soon found herself staring back at Naga's face. What he had done to her she was unsure off, but she silently prayed her would not place her through the torture she had previously seen from the other monsters. Doubt that he would spare her the painful punishment filled in mind however. After all, Mu had only wanted one thing which was the magic stone so what other use could she provide to him? And since she had partly escaped without noticing, it was most likely he would be angered for letting her slip away easily.

"How did you kill Gali?" Naga's voice filled her ears as his blurred visage remained in a blur. When she did not respond he slightly raised his voice, "There's-s-s-s- no way an ordinary human girl could defeat a member of the Big Bad Four! How did you manage to s-s-s-succeed?"

Holly closed her eyes and screamed, covering her ears with her hands, too frightened by the situation to respond.

Naga hissed between his teeth and was about to ask her once more when another voice echoed in the distance.

"Naga! What the hell are you doing?" Holly heard another voice say as a shuffle of footsteps sounded towards the table.

"S-s-stay out of this-s-s-s- Gray Wolf!" Naga snarled, "this-s-s-s i-s-s-s-s my problem to control".

"Master Mu ordered us to find the girl in the castle not try to paralyse her."

"I was-s-s-sn't doing that," Naga argued back, "I am merely teaching her the consequences-s-s-s-s of trying to es-s-s-s-cape".

Gray Wolf huffed, looking at Holly as she began breathing rapidly and her eyes had rolled towards her head "yes, you certainly proofed that accurate when you brought her here poisoned and asked her how she killed our former comrade".

"I was-s-s-s trying to dis-s-s-scover…."

"Enough!" The wolf monster growled, "I think Master Mu would be pleased if we took her back to the room she was last preoccupied in."

"Why would he want that?"

"BECAUSE SHE IS A VALUEABLE PRIZE!" Mu's thunderous voice boomed as he came into view.

"M-m-m-mas-s-s-ster," Naga's voice contained a little tremble as he shifted away from the table.

The King of the Baddies peered at the young girl before turning is head back to the members of the Big Bad Four.

"Consider this a warning Naga!" Mu's voice growled, "You do not harm the girl unless I inform you do so, do you understand?"

"Y-y-yes-s-s-s Mas-s-s-ster," Naga obeyed immediately.

"Get out of my sight!" Mu shouted and Naga slithered out of the room without question. Mu turned around towards the door of the room; before he exited, he turned back to Gray Wolf, "after the Weed provides her with the antidote, take her back into the room and look after her until I return."

Gray Wolf nodded his head, "yes Master." As soon as Mu left and the Weed had injected a needle with green liquid into Holly, Gray Wolf remained patiently by her sleeping form for a few moments then gently placed her onto his back and carried her back into the last room she was in before she escaped. He laid her down onto another table, but instead, this one included a soft white sheet. Gray Wolf continued to watch her with curiosity, for the information he had previously been told by other baddies that this was the human girl who took out an entire Jell army and had played a large role in Gali's death; she did not appear to be threatening in any way. She looked innocent, almost too innocent he'd figured, but then he had always been told not to judge a book by its cover.

Gray Wolf's thoughts were interrupted as Holly's eyelids slowly opened. She looked around her surroundings, a little confused of how her sight became normal again and her head was no longer dizzy. She looked again and gave a slight gasp, spotting a baddie just a few inches away from her.

"I can assure you I mean no harm," the monster spoke calmly, without the slightest hint of menace in his voice.

Normally, Holly would feel endangered coming across a creature that bore the familiar symbol of darkness but this particular monster seemed to not to provide signs of danger. And he resembled her companion Tiger so greatly, if it were not for the diverse colours coated on their fur, she could have sworn they were twins. Brushing aside the idea for now, Holly took the opportunity to ask the questions to the monster that could only provide answers for her at the moment.

"Where am I?" She said, her voice barely audible due to the still effects of the powder Naga had drenched her with, but the grey monster could clearly hear her words.

"You're in the same room you were the last time before you tried to escape," the monster replied and could not help but chuckle a little bit, "it was a foolish thing but I must admit it was very brave for you to attempt."

"What happened after?" Holly asked, "What did Naga…."

"He injected an amount of his venom into you," he said, "Naga is one of the group leaders who takes no mercy while scolding his troops if they dare disobey or against those who try to defy Master Mu; I predict he was attempting to teach you a lesson."

"Then how did I survive the poison?"

"It was only meant to last awhile," Gray Wolf told her, "But Master Mu had one of his weeds provide you with the cure so you would recover sooner".

"Why did he do it?"

He chuckled again, "for someone who just recovered from a contamination, you ask a lot."

"Well, I'm curious as to why Mu wants me here alive," Holly said, raising her head up and moving to a sitting position on the table, "he gave me the cure so there must be some reason for keeping me here."

"Hmm," Gray Wolf mused then asked, "What's your name?"

She hesitated before answering, "I'm Holly."

"Ahhh, the Red Lady," Gray Wolf said, "I heard a group of my fellow baddies whispering about you; they very much emphasized on the fact on the powers who contained and something about a girl named Xaviera."

_There it was again, _Holly thought that_ damned name that had been placed upon her several times. _

"Do you know who Xaviera is?" she quickly asked but only received a shake of the head by him.

"Your guess is as good as mine."

"Then can you at least please tell me what you think your master plans to do with me?"

"What he normally does with his prisoners," Gray Wolf informed her, "he'll turn you into a baddie."

The statement did not offend her but instead, made her more curious than before.

"Were you a prisoner as well before Mu turned you?" she asked, now desiring to know his background as well, "what's _your _name".

"My name is Gray Wolf," he responded with a slight nod of the head, "And I am a member of Master Mu's Big Bad Four."

Holly's eyes widened, of course! No wonder he reminded her of Tiger so much! The monster here standing before her was his little brother who had been abducted by Mu when the King of the Baddies had decided to attack Tiger's pack.

Seeing her facial expression, he said, "You know of me?"

"Yes," she nodded, moving a little closer towards him to get a better look, "I know your brother Tiger; he told me about you including the day Mu abducted you and took you away and how he tried to save you and…."

"Liar!" Gray Wolf snarled, causing her to jump and move back. He drew his attention away from her and walked towards the large window, staring down.

"Mu never took me," he said darkly before turning to face her again, "Tiger gave me up, he sold me to Master Mu because he thought I was a threat to this pack. Growing up, he always looked down upon me and never thought I was worth anything. In fact, I am glad he sold me to Mu because now I know where my purpose of life truly lies serving evil and making those who think they can defeat us pay."

Holly felt her heart sink at his words. _Mu must have brainwashed him before he turned him into a baddie_, she figured. Sure, Tiger of the Wind bore a selfish and uncaring matter when she had first met him but that all had changed. And there was one thing that was for certain, he never spoke gravely about his brother and told everyone most of the times when they would just sit and converse on how he had made it his mission to defeat Mu and win his baby brother back. There was no doubt to Holly that his words were untrue and that Gray Wolf had simply forgotten the good memories of his life and was now living in a world filled with darkness and hate. But one thing that remained uncertain, he had spoken to her gently before and by the looks of things, it did not appear that he was attempting to harm her in any way; perhaps there was some good still left in him? She decided to change the subject in order to not let things get out of hand.

"So you said you are a member of the Big Bad Four?" she asked.

"Yes".

"Is it only you and Naga?"

"Yes," he repeated, "ever since Pixie's sudden treachery and Gali's decease, Naga and I are the only ones left, I guess he is trying to prove to the Master that he is more than capable of being his mist loyal servant." He moved closer to her again and stared at her for a moment, making Holly feel uncomfortable at his sudden motionless gaze.

Finally she said, "What is it?"

"Nothing," he spoke, snapping out of his trance, "It's just with you being here and all and our shortage of baddie leaders, maybe Mu has the idea of taking Pixie's place."

"I won't turn," Holly spoke with clear determination on her face, "even if Mu tries to make me a baddie, my friends will come and rescue me before it occurs".

"And if they don't?"

"They will."

"How can you be so certain?"

"Because I just know," Holly said, "and if there is a chance they don't make it in time, I'd rather have Mu kill me instead".

"Suit yourself," he said, "but you could live a better life if you easily converted yourself to this side."

"Well thank you but no thank you," Holly said, hugging her arms over her knees, "I've made my decision".

He chuckled again, realizing the dazzling courage she had for a normal human being who would dread the idea of being tortured by Mu and yet, she was willing to give up her own life rather than join his army; that was something he did not see everyday.

"The night sky is beautiful," she quickly said, jolting him out of his thoughts. She stared out the window and faced him, "have you ever tried counting how many stars there are?"

"Hmm," he tilted his head to the side, "why would you ask me that?"

She shrugged, "I'm just curious, when I was a child, I used to try to count the stars every-night before I'd go to bed but I'd always give up in the end after losing count a few times." Holly could not help but smile at the memory, "I always thought they were so beautiful, the way they lit up in the sky, it just made me want to reach out and grab as many as I could." She paused, realizing that he had most likely found boredom in her story so she stopped. But he did not look the slightest bored but curious instead.

"Thank you for helping me," she said, making him raise his eyebrows, "I know you may think I am lying but I mean it, thank you".

"Well, your welcome," he said then gave a small bow, "I must return to my quarters now, get some rest; the Master will be with you shortly. Oh and by the way, you may want to reconsider thinking about your final decision to join us, it would be a disgrace to watch a young woman like you suffer a horrible death instead of having the chance to live a better life."

Holly tried to think of a response to say to him but instead hung her head and shifted her body around, staring into the night sky again. Suddenly, she heard a paddle of footsteps shift behind her and turned around when she felt a slight tug at her arm. She watched in shock as the wolf monster took her hand into both his paws and licked her palm in an affection manner she would remember seeing the wolf breeds in her village do to their adored owners. Without saying another word, Gray Wolf released her hand and walked away, swiftly exiting out the door. After a moment of gingerly touching the spot where he had licked her, Holly let her body fall back on the table and shifted several times before falling into a deep sleep.

**Yay! Another chapter! Since I have another late update I'd figure I'd write 2 chapters because I did not want to make you guys wait that long just for one chapter :) A big thank you again to my loyal readers and I hope you enjoyed reading these two chapters and that they were good enough! More action will come as the plot is starting to further develop, I just have to plan it all out and how I will write it lol! And thank you to the lovely RockyRoasSmith for teaching me how to write Naga's dialogue, now I remember how he talks again XD! Pleas read and review to tell me wut you think! And I could not help but place Gray Wolf in this chapter, I'm not trying to make him a big softie or anything because he is still a baddie at this point but I kind of wanted him to have a small soft spot for Holly. Hey! The girl is on a ship filled with baddies and someone's gotta be nice to her lol! Wut do u guys think of this?**


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